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F 



^m0tmh 0f ft. pirhael'is. 



I 



S' Michaels Churchyard mo Church. 

( South east view from elevated poEjiion I 



MEMORIALS OF S^ MICHAELS 

THE OLD PARISH CHURCHYARD ■ 
OF DUMFRIES. ■: 

WILLIAM M'DOWALL. 



°^fs Tomb IS * 

EDINBURGH, 

Adam & Charles Black, 

1876. 



c 



o 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S, 



THE 



Ifir Jnrh^ i|ttrd^^j|b a| J)ttmlrt^. 



BY 



"WILIL.I-A.2^ 2^*3DOW^-A.LL, 



AUTHOR OP THE "HISTORY OP THE BUROH OP DUMFRIES, WITH 
NOTICES OF NITHSDALE, ANNANDALE, AND THE WESTERN 
BORDER," ** BURNS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE," ETC. 



EDINBURGH: 
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. 

1876. 



^J^7i>r lO.iO 



HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY j:> 
DEXTER FUND 



DtTMFRIES : 
PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE, BY JOSEPH DtCKSON. 



This volume of "Memorials" is essentially a local work, 
intended chiefly for persons belonging to the district or in 
some way associated with it. The author hopes that it 
will be found worthy of their perusal; and to many of 
them it will no doubt possess a mournful interest, relat- 
ing as it does to friends near and dear who lie sleeping 
in St. MichaeVs, waiting the dawn of the resurrection 
day. In recalling the names of "the loved and lost" — 
not "lost," properly speaking, but "gone before" — ^he has 
endeavoured to do so in a reverential spirit; and he 
trusts that no word has been introduced that is fitted 
to give pain to any one, or that is out of keeping with 
the general ch^acter and objects of the publication. 

Nearly all the stones in the Churchyard are brought 
under notice ; and should it be objected by any one 
that the Memorials are too comprehensive, and that it 
would have been better if the book had been made less 
general and more select, the author has only to plead 
that in proceeding with his task he saw on every side 
such a difficulty in knowing when and where to draw 
an exclusive line, that he came to the conclusion that 
he had better run the risk of making the work too 
elaborate rather than incompletely choice. Besides, 
names that may appear of little note to strangers may 
be . precious to some humble household as having 
belonged to those who, in happier da3rs for the survivors, 
were its chief prop or pride. All burial grounds are 



IV. PREFACE. 

sacred, but as a rale each bereaved mourner counts 
that spot the dearest and most hallowed of all which 
caskets the rifled " gems " of his own " scented circle :" 
and to the "Hie jacet" of many graves, half -neglected or 
obscure, that are noticed in this volume, the words may 
truthfully be added, "Somebody's darling slumbers here." 

While a serious tone has generally been maintained, 
the author has not thought fit to manifest a melancholy 
or gloom which he did not really feel. Anything 
approaching to levity would have been out of place in 
these memorials of the dead ; but even as a walk 
through a cemetery may legitimately call up many 
thoughts that are not sad, so, much that is cheerful, or 
which at all events was intended to be so, has been 
introduced, wanting which the book would have been 
monotonous and dull. 

Undoubtedly St. Michael's Churchyard is in many 
respects unique : it is very often spoken of as without a 
parallel anywhere ; and this much at all events may 
safely be said, that few provincial burial-places through- 
out the United Kingdom can compete with it in antiquity 
or extent, and none equals it in point of general interest. 
In one respect it stands alone, presenting an attraction 
with which no other cemetery throughout the world 
can vie in possessing the dust of Kobert Bums, and 
the noble Mausoleum raised over it by the nation as a 
tardy tribute to his genius. The entire acreage of the 
Churchyard has thus acquired a special sacredness over 
and above that which attaches to all places of sepul- 
ture. Many references to the poet are scattered here 
and there in these pages, besides what is said about 



PREFACE. V. 

his own double-burial and tomb ; which portions of the 
work may help to render it not unacceptable .to general 
readers. The Martyrs' Monuments also, which receive a 
due share of attention, possess an undying interest, not 
only to all our countrymen, but to the lovers of freedom 
and the admirers of heroism in every land. 

Whenever the persons commented upon figured in 
history, or were connected with important events, local 
or national, a brief biography or descriptive sketch has 
been given, according as the case seemed to require. 
To the Town Councillors and the Trades, with the Pro- 
vosts, Bailies, Conveners, and Deacons, by whom they 
were officered, consideiable prominence has been given 
when the names of such, appearing on the gravestones, 
supplied a fitting text ; those who bore rule in the 
Burgh or Parish in spiritual things, and those who minis- 
tered to the bodily health, or looked after the legal 
business of the lieges, receiving similar treatment. 

"With scarcely an exception, the Latin epitaphs which 
occur have been done into English by Dr. James 
Cranstoun, Rector of the Dumfries Academy ; the ren- 
dering in each case is worthy of the accomplished trans- 
lator of the Elegiac Triad, Catullus, TibuUus, and Pro- 
pertius; and the author considers himself fortunate in 
having obtained the freewill services of such a scholar as 
Dr. Cranstoun in producing these translations, which it is 
believed will be looked upon as a most valuable feature 
of the "Memorials." 

In prosecuting his task the author has received much 
assistance from Mr. Thomas Watson, monumental mason, 
who knows the whole ground; also some acceptable infer- 



VI PREFACE. 

mation from Mr. William Flint, sculptor ; and some 
genealogical hints from Mr. James Campbell Gracie. 
The Minute-book of the Parish Heritors was readily 
placed at the disposal of the author by their clerk^ Mr. 
James H. M'Gowan ; as were the Session Eecords by 
the Session Clerk, Mr. M'Quhae. . The author has to 
acknowledge also the kind attention paid to him by Mr. 
John Tait, Sexton and Beadle, and Mrs. Tait, by which 
his labours were much facilitated ; and finally, he hajs to 
express his indebtedness to Mr. James Bae, photographic 
artist, Stonewall Place, Queen Street, f(St ^an excellent 
picture, which as correctly lithographed constitutes the 
frontispiece of the volume. 



KiNOHOLMBANK. DUHFBIES, 

October, 1876. 



OOITTElSrTS. 

CHAP. FAOK. 

I. Origin, Extent, and Greneral Characteristics of the 

Churchyard ; Ancient Monuments along the 
Western Wall to the Corsanes, Irvings, Maxwells, 
and others ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 

II. More Ancient Monuments along the same line to the 

Gilchrists, Crosbies, Dicksons, Lowthians, &c. ; 
magniiicent Monument to the Kirkpatrick Sharpes 
in the South- West Corner 15 

III. Obelisk to the Duchra Family ; Provost CraiVs rest- 

ing-place ; Monuments to other early Provosts, 
including Edgar of Keidbank, Hepburn, Copland, 
Johnston, Bishop, with numerous other venerable 
Memorials between the Western Wall and the 
Footpath Eastward 26 

IV. The same section continued : Memorials of early Trade 

Conveners ; Wonderful Tale of Wedded Life ; 
John Kichardson's Monument ; a Beminiscenc^ 
of Prince Charlie, in connection with the Monu- 
ment to John Gas, barber 42 

V. The Monuments between the Footpath East and the 

Church ; the Military Comer ; Bemarkable Story 
of a JDream ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 

VI. The Monuments along the Northern Wall : Pyet and 

Crow Contest ; a Centenarian ; numerous Memo- 
rials, ancient and modem, of distinguished indi- 
viduals and families ; the Poet's Comer, where 
Bums was first interred, with its Monuments to 
John Bushby, James Gracie, Provost Jackson, 
and Mrs. Perochon 65 

VII. The Monuments along the Eastern Wall to Francis 

Shortt, Town-Clerk, Provost Staig, Convener 
Grainger, and others 87 

VIII. Bum&'s Mausoleum — the Ee-interment ; Burial-Place of 

Jessie Le wars 101 

IX. The Upper Class Monuments of the Southern Walk to 

Bailie Eankine, Provost Barker, Provost Arm- 
strong, the Melville family. Convener Anderson^ 
Mr. and Mrs. Crichton of Friars Carse, James 
M*Whir, Convener Howat, Rev. James Brown, 
Provost Murray, Convener James Thomson, and 
o mers ... ... ... ... ... ... ...x x^ 



Vlll. CONTENTS. 

X. Additional Monuments on the Western Wall ; the 

Cholera Mound 128 

XI. The Monuments Parallel with the Southern Walk ; 

numerous instances of Longevity 13S 

XII. The Monuments along the Second Southern Footpath, 

to Provost M*Gowan, Bailie Harkness, Itev. 
Walter Dunlop, Provost Kerr, and others ... 149 

XIII. The Monuments along the Third Footpath, to Provost 

Fraser, Colonel de Peyster, John M*I)iarmid of 
the Courier, Provost Leighton, Provost Gabriel 
Richardson, and others .; 158 

XIV. .The Inner Section Monuments, to William Aitken, 

metallic designer and art-critic. Provost Corson, 
Alexander Young, P.F., Rev. John Dun, and 
o uners » , , ,, m ••• ••« ••• ••• •••x^x 

XV. The Monuments on the North Side of the adjacent 

Footpath, to Rev. Dr. Scot, William Smith, per- 
fumer. Rev. Andrew Fyfe, Bailie Dinwiddie, 
Robert Scott, senior, founder of the Dumfries 
Tweed Trade, Robeii; Scotb, junior, Bailie Creigh- 
ton, Provost M'Kie, Bailie Armstrong, and others 190 

XVI. Inner Section Monuments to Dean Armstrong, 
^ Convener Nibloe, Rev. David Wightman, Archi- 
bald Malcolm, Town-Clerk,' with numerous other 
Memorials ancient and modem ... .y ... 200 

XVII. Inner Section Monuments to the Moorheads, to 

the M 'Ghies — an Episode of the '45 — ^the Lawson 
Pyramid — Memorials of Provost Rome, and of 
the Knockgray Family, &c. 219 

XVIII. Inner Section Monuments to the Duncan and 

M'Murdo Families — their Relationship and other 
Connections — Memorials of Dr. Archibald Black- 
lock and Dr. Ambrose Blacklock 233 

XIX. Inner Section Monuments to Nicholas M. Tennant 

and Children; to Dr. Robert Mitchell; to the 
father of Dr. Thomas Blacklock, poet; to Con- 
vener Robert Thomson — Reminiscences of the 
Silver Gun Competition, 1777 248 

XX. Additional Inner Section Monuments to Alexander 

Crombie, Bailie Crombie, and others — a Centenarian 262 

XXI. The Monuments behind the Church to Provost 

Kemp, to the Munches and Terraughtie Max- 
wells, to Provost Irving of Logan, and others ... 273 

XXII. The Monuments of the same subdivision continued, 

including one to Samuel Clark, jun., the friend 
of Bums, and another' to John Gregan, Cabinet- 
inftK er ... ... .4. ... .». ... ... ^oo 



CONTENTS. IX. 

XXIII. Continuation of the Monuments behind the Churdi ; 

Monument to Dean Archibald Hamilton ; a Cen- 
tenarian : Ancient Memorials of the Corrie Family 
—Tombstone to "Blin* Tam" 301 

XXIV. Other Monuments of the section, including one to 

the Eev. Mr. Inglis, and another to James Broom, 
Town-Clerk 319 

XXV. The remaining Monuments of the section — Memo- 

rials of Trade Officials ; Reminiscences of old 
Deacon Johnston; the Martyrs* Stones 334 

XXVI. Interior of St. Michael's Church — List of Ministers 

from the Heformation till the present day ; List 
of Donors to the Parish Poor ; the Monuments in 
the Porch and on the Walls ; Tablet to Rev. 
William Veitch — sketch of his life and sufferings 
— Additional Tablets to Rev. Patrick Linn, Rev. 
Robert Wight, Rev. Dr. Mutter, and Rev. John 

OOwuu •«• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• Ot/X 

XXVII. Monument to Samuel Clark, sen. ; Wall Tablets to 

George Mackenzie of Netherwood, Irvings of 
Bonshaw, Philadelphia Douglas (wife of Robert 
M*Murdo), Jane Blair (wife of James M*Murdo, 
chamberlain at Drumlanrig) ; Memorials of Dr. 
and Mrs. Archibald, the Ewarts of Muloch, and 
oxners ■. ... ..• .• •.< ••• ... ooo 

XXVIII. Origin, Extent, and Characteristics of the New 
Ground — the Monuments on the South Wall to 
Sheriff Trotter, Rev. Robert Machray, Thomas 
M*Gowan, David Dunbar, and others 377 

XXIX. The North Wall— f^rave of Thomas Aird— Monu- 

ments on the Wall to Bailie Currie, Rev. Dr. 
James Fraser, and others ; Monuments on the 
VY est! vv ail ... ... ... ... ... ... oo«7 

XXX. The Monuments of the Inner Sections, about two 

hundred in number, including those to Colonel 
Kennedy of Knockgray and Provost Kennedy ... 403 

XXXI. Supplementary Notices and Concluding Remarks 424 



'$itttimb 0f ^1* ffit^JttF^. 



-o-oo- 




'ITHIN the Burgh of Dumfries there are now four 
places of burial : St. Michael's Churchyard, St. 
Mary's Churchyard, Holy Cross K. C. Cemetery, and 
the Craig's Eoad Cemetery, the last-named of which received 
its first pale tenants so recently as March, 1874. St. 
Michael's burial-ground is very old, as venerable for age 
nearly as the town itself. The ashes of the early British 
patriarchs who, some time prior to the year 1000, originated 
the capital of Nithsdale may not have been laid in this 
primitive necropolis, but we know that the ground had begun 
to receive inhabitants of its own during the days of Malcolm 
Canmore ; and that before "William the Lion bore rule, it 
was known by its present name in a Latinised form, " Ceme- 
terium Sancti Michaelis." About the year 1160 the church- 
yard was the scene of a fatal brawl between two burgesses, 
which formed the ground- work of a criminal case that was 
tried by the King's Bailies and a jury in the Castle of Dum- 
fries. It may be fairly assumed, therefore, that at least 
eight centuries have been added to the illimitable past since 
first the "maker of the dead man's bed" plied spade and 
mattock in St. Michael's Cemetery. During the greater 
portion of that period it was the only place of sepulture 
within the Burgh. For about two hundred and fifty years 
before the Reformation a small burial-place attached to the 
Greyfriars' Monastery, founded in or about 1274, received 
its quota of mortality ; by the opening of St. Mary's burial- 
ground in 1838, and that of Holy Cross in 1852, new terri- 
tories were borrowed from the living for the dead ; not a 
few who die in the town are borne away annually to occupy 
narrow houses elsewhere ; but on the other hand, numerous 

A 



2 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

additions to the dreamless sleepers in St. MichaeFs come 
from the surrounding district; and making all due de- 
ductions, we think that, from first to last, its disanimated 
population cannot number less than eighty thousand men, 
women, and children. 

They comprise a multitude of humble folks, who lived and 
died unnoticed and unknown, some who made a great figure 
in their day and generation, many whose memory is hoarded 
by surviving friends with " miser care," a few whose dust is 
peculiarly dear to all worshippers of true heroism, and one 
whose fame fills the world, making his mortal abode a shrine 
to which pilgrims from every land repair : 

** All ask the cottage of his birth, 

Gaze on the scenes he loved and sang, 
And gather feelings not of earth 

His fields and streams among. 
They linger by the Doon's low trees. 

And pastoral Nith, and wooded Ayr, 
And round thy sepulchres, Dumfries — 

The Poet's tomb is there." 

The older portion of the churchyard is nearly three acres 
in extent, and, to mitigate the evils of overcrowding, a con- 
siderable addition was made to it fully twenty years ago. 
So opulent are the grounds with memorial structures that 
they seem at certain points to cause an " embarrassment of 
riches," as they almost jostle each other for room. No other 
provincial burial-place in the United Kingdom, we believe, 
equals it in this respect. Probably the proud Mausoleum 
reared over the ashes of Robert Burns in 1815 helped to 
stimulate the Dumfriesian aspirations for graveyard masonry 
with its fame, however narrow or transient ; but long before 
this more than regal monument arose, numerous ambitious 
tombstones, challenging attention, and bearing testimony to 
buried virtue, and to the liberality, if not always to the good 
taste, of sorrowing friends, gave a florid aspect to the field. 
Precisely a hundred years ago. Pennant saw in the church- 
yard "several monuments in form of pyramids, very orna- 
mental." Hundreds of a homelier kind intermix, bearing 
names " spelt by the unlettered muse," some of them strewn 
with texts that "teach the rustic moralist to die," and 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 3 

claiming with success at times the tribute of a tear from the 
wayfaring "passengers/* who are sftipposed to be addressed 
by lip and tongue that lie motionless and mute. 

Even travellers from other lands, bent on visiting the 
Poet's Mausoleum or the Nithsdale Martyrs' grave-stones, 
may find much more to interest them than they anticipated, 
for, apart altogether from these crowning attractions, the 
"Auld Karkyard" of Dumfries has many other objects 
worthy of notice, though of course these appeal with a 
stronger force to natives of the district than to strangers 
from a distance. The very number of the slabs, cenotaphs, 
pyramids, tables, and obelisks — three thousand or more — 
which make up this forest of stone is striking, and its general 
aspect, though less "tidy'' than is desirable, and though 
irregular in the extreme, is exceedingly picturesque ; and 
when its details are examined with a sympathetic eye many 
of them will be found worthy of the survey, yielding, besides 
those moral lessons with which all burial-places are fraught, 
some curious reminiscences of past times ; some biographical 
outlines, brief yet comprehensive, of men who in life soared 
above their fellows, though here they share the common lot 
of all; men famous for cunning of hand, strength of head, 
or generosity of heart ; burghal syndics of " credit and 
renown," who in a higher sense than modem magistrates 
ruled over the little municipal world, which yet managed to 
survive their loss ; characters who earned more than pro- 
vincial repute, or who were in some way or other closely 
associated with incidents of historical importance. Un- 
fortunately the record is now utterly blank as regards the 
first six centuries to which its nominal age extends. The 
graveyard is in the condition of a valuable old manuscript 
whose most ancient leaves have been torn out, pr turned into 
a tabula rasa. Of all the many generations who found their 
last earthly resting place in St. Michael's prior to 1620 there 
is no visible trace. Regarding them it may be emphatically 

said, 

" Their memory and their name are gone, 
Alike unknowing and unknown ;" 



4 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

thougli it is more than probable that the lower strata of the 
ground contain the bony relics or stone memorials of men 
who lived in pre-Eeformation times, and who, it may be, 
had joined the ranks of Bruce when he struck the first blow 
for freedom in the Greyfriars' Monastery, or had raised the 
slogan of " A-Loreburn " at Sark or Pinkie, or taken part in 
many a cattle-lifting raid or patriotic foray across the 
Western Border. Plenty of memorials remain, however, 
to court attention ; some of which let us proceed to point 
out without further delay. 

ALONG THE WESTERN WALL. 

Entering by the huge iron gateway, through which have 
passed such multitudes of both quick and dead, we glide 
with reverent step southward, in the line of the grey old 
wall which forms the western boundary of the grounds, and 
which is battlemented, as it were, with about a dozen monu- 
ments. Adjoining the gate are two stones raised to com- 
memorate some members of a family called Baxter. The 
word is in old Scotch equivalent to " baker," and the likeli- 
hood is that the first Baxters took their surname from the 
circumstance that they were bread-makers by trade. The 
first stone commemorates Bichard Baxter, died 8th March 
1786, aged 55 ; aud his spouse, Isabella Thomson. On the 
second stone there is a longer record, as foUows : James 
Baxter, farmer, Milldamhead, died 19th November 1829, 
aged 72 ; Catherine Johnston, his wife ; David Baxter, their 
son, baker by occupation as well as name, died 2 1st October 
1824, aged 29 ; Joseph, another son, died 9th April, 1848, 
aged 47 ; a daughter, Catherine, died 6th December 1851,. 
aged 47 ; John, another son, died 5th March 1849, aged 60 ; 
Jean Milligan, his spouse ; and their daughter Catherine. 
Both of the monuments consist of flat slabs resting 
upon short piUars, in the altar form generally known as table 
tombstoues, a class that were long common but are now 
out of use. 

ft 

The third stone we arrive at, which is of the same altar 
shape, bears upon it the following inscription : " Here lyes 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 5 

John Patersone, merchant^ late Bailie of Dumfries^ who dyed 
the 17 of January, 1722, aged 65 years." If monumental 
magnificence were the true gauge of worth we ought to find 
here an imposing structure, as beneath the stone sleeps the 
dust of a philanthropist to whom the town is greatly in- 
debted for its high educational status. By his liberality he 
did more than any one to make the Dumfries Academy. 
Before his time the provision for fostering the higher 
branches was very inadequate : it was no longer so when the 
fund which he bequeathed for its encouragement became an 
ever-flowing fount for the sustenance of masters com- 
missioned to ''teach children in ane, free schooll the Latin 
lludiments and grammar^ rhetorick, classick authors, and 
Greek New Testament." Towards this end Bailie Paterson 
left eight thousand merks ; and in order to give a similar 
stimulus to more generally useful, though less scholarly 
branches, he left seven thousand merks for teaching the 
*'arts of writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and navigation" 
to the children of burgesses — the pupils always to include 
eight children of decayed merchants, who were to be 
specially privileged on account of their parents' poverty. 
These sums, amounting to £835 6s 8d sterling, were secured 
on landed property, the Dumfries Town Council acting as 
administrators of the trust. Untrophied though the 
Paterson tombstone is, it is honoured by bearing upon it the 
escutcheon of a good man's name, which ought never to be 
mentioned in the Burgh save with respect and gratitude. 

A stone raised near by, in memory of a youthful son of 
Bailie Paterson, has within the last few years been sub- 
jected to ignominious treatment. Thrown down upon its face, 
its feet, instead of supporting it, laid lumberingly upon it, 
the stone ought, for the father's sake, if not for the son's, to 
be placed in its right position, forthwith to reveal its pathetic 
inscription, which runs thus : 



ti 



When parents, friends, and neighbours hoped to see 
This early bud of learning, piety. 
And temper good, produce some fruit, 
Behold Death plucks the plant up by the root.^* 



6 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL^S. 

Froceedmg still in the same direction, we reach several 
structures which must at an early period have been among 
the most imposing in the whole yard, but looking upon them 
now we see 

*' Sepulchral colunms wrestle but in vain 
With all-Bubduing Time : his cankering hand 
With calm deliberate malice wasteth them. 
Worn on the edge of days, the brass consumes. 
The busto moulders, and the deep-cut marble, 
Unsteady to the steel, gives up its charge." 

They still bear traces of their pristine magnificence, and 
while rich in an artistic sense they are still more replete 
with historical memories. The inscriptions, some of them 
half -erased, furnish texts from which the old annals of the 
town might be expounded for two' centuries or more. Here 
is the monument of the Corsanes — a family of municipal 
patricians ; near by rises the renovated monument of the 
Irvings, who long occupied a similar position ; further on a 
little stands the less ambitious tombstone of the Crosbies, 
several of whom wielded civic rule in troublous times ; and 
when the circle is slightly extended, it takes in such names 
as Gilchrist, Bell, Johnstone, and Dickson — all noted burgh 
magnates in their day. 

The Corsane monument has suffered terribly from the 
hand of Time. For several centuries "a most influential 
family, the Corsanes,'* says the continuator of "Nisbet's 
Heraldry," " have it handed down from age to age that the 
first of their ancestors in Scotland was -an Italian gentleman 
of the Corsini family, who came into this realm with an 
abbot of Newabbey or Lvlce Cor about the year 1280 f 
" though," says another author, " it is right we should state 
that frequently in old writs the name appears with the prefix 
'A* or *Ap,' indicating a British or Celtic origin." The 
Corsanes were designated of Glen till, in the reign of James 
IV., the barony so called passed with Marion, daughter of 
Sir Robert Acorsane, to her husband. Sir Robert Gordon, 
who thereupon styled himself of Glen, but afterwards of 
Lochinvar, on the death of his elder brother, who fell at 
Flodden. From Gordon of Lochinvar and his wife Marion 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 



sprang the barous of that ilk and the Lords of Kenmure. 
"Sir John Corsane, an early cadet and next heir male of 
Glen, settled at Dumfries, where he increased in riches and 
honour, and had a lineal succession of heirs male for eighteen 
generations ; and that they were all of the name John has 
been constantly asserted by that family. That there were so 
many generations of them appears as well by other vouchers 
as by an excellent inscription on the funeral monument of 
John Corsane, Provost of Dumfries in tHe reign of King 
James VI., who was the thirteenth in order descended from 
the said Sir John Corsane inclusive, in a direct masculine 
course of succession.** This Provost Corsane was also re- 
presentative of the Burgh in the Parliament that passed the 
notorious Prelatic decrees known as the "Five Articles of 
Perth." He espoused the daughter of the seventh Lord 
Maxwell (slain in the great clan battle of Dryf e Sands, and 
buried in Lincluden Abbey), by whom he had several 
children, one of whom was wedded to Stephen Laurie of 
Maxwelton, and had for daughter the celebrated lyrical 
heroine, " Bonnie Annie Laurie.'* 

The anonymous continuator of Nisbet (whose work we 
have twice quoted from above) makes the following re- 
markable statements with reference to Provost Corsane : 
^'Having in his younger years executed the inferior offices 
of the magistracy in Dumfries, he was Provost of the said 
Burgh forty-five years, died when he was aged seventy-five 
years and a half, in antw 1629, and was buried with eleven 
of his grandfathers, as appears by the said funeral monument 
erected to his memory that same year by Mr John Corsane, 
advocate, his son and heir; upon which, with his coat of 
arms, are many excellent inscriptions in commemoration of 
his learning, justice, and other good qualifications." Doubt- 
less this distinguished magnate often bore magisterial rule 
over the Burgh, but that he occupied the civic chair forty- 
five years is simply incredible ; the list of Dumfries Provosts 
still extant shews that various other gentlemen acted as 
chief magistrate during the fanciful forty-five years of office 
assigned to Mr Corsane. k misinterpretation of one of the 



8 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

inscriptions mentioned by the writer has evidently led to 
the mistake. Whatever "excellent inscriptions" may have 
been engraved upon the monument at first, only one is now 
traceable, besides the following intimation ; — 

*' In memoriam viri optimi hujus ur- 
bis Oonsulis Joannis Oorsane filius 
Hoc moniimentum extruxit 
Qui obiit. 7 Mau 1629." 

In memory of the most illustrious man, John Oorsane, Provost of 
this town, his son has raised this monument. He died 7 May 1629. 

In vain we try to decipher the lines by which filial love 
sought to set forth the honours heaped upon the head 
of the illustrious deceased. So corroded are they that 
only a word here and there reveals itself or can be re- 
suscitated by any amount of scrutiny or labour; little 
mysterious ridges, that yield up scarcely any meaning, being 
nearly all that remain of the sculptor's handiwork. One of 
three epitaphs given by Nisbet's colleague is in the following 

terms : 

** Ter tria fatales et bis tria lustra sorores, 
Dimidiumque sevo contribuere tuo. 
Ter tria civiles humerum circumdare fasces 
Lustra, dedit sophise gratia digna tuse. 
Ter tribus ac binis, tandem' prognatus eodem 
Et lare, Corsanis contumularis avis." 

The lines may be thus translated : 

The fateful sisters assigned thrice three and twice three lustres 
and a half [year] to thy lifetime [t.«., seventy-five and a half years]. 
Begard due to thy wisdom caused thy shoulders to wear the badges 
of civic authority for thrice three lustres [forty-five years]. Sprung 
at length from thrice three and two progenitors of Oorsane, thou also 
art buried with them in the same place. 

^ These words only warrant the conclusion that the deceased 
was a councillor, bailie, and chief magistrate for "thrice 
three lustres," and not perched at thci top of the municipal 
tree for such a protracted period, to the exclusion of the 
Cunninghams, Kirkpatricks, and Irvings, who we know 
occupied that coveted altitude alternately with himself. 
"We feel pleasure in stating that the structure was carefully 
repaired last autumn by Mr. William Mint, sculptor, Dum- 
fries, at the instance of the proprietors. During the process 
the inscription was brought into full view by the temporary 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICUASL's. 9 

withdrawal of a headstone which stood before it ; but even 
then the injured epitaph refused to yield up its secret ; 
though it became sufficiently clear that the words were not 
identical with those just quoted, as we fancied they might 
have been, or with either of the other two inscriptions in 
honour of "Joannes Corsanus" that are given by Nisbet's 
continuator. One of these is in the following terms : 



""Fascibus in nostra urbe, senex, reliquoque juventa 
Functus honore, sub hoc clausus atro tummo." 

Which may be thus translated : 

The old man having in our town discharged the highest official 
duties and enjoyed the other honours* in his youth, Ues under this 
gloomy tomb. 

A versified form might be given to the couplet, thus : 

Consul in age, all other honours won ; 
The veteran lies beneath this gloomy stone. 

The other incription is as follows : 

*'Anagramma, An sanus, Corsanus?" 

*' Sanus et in summa fueras, Corsane, juventa, 
Sanus et in summo, cor, fueras senio. 
Corde tuo sano, prseeras dum sive juventa, 
Seu senio, res hsec publica sana stetit." 

The ingenious play upon the name of the deceased here 
indulged in will be perceived by ordinary readers from the 
subjoined rendering of this curious epitaph : 

Seme thou hadst been in thy youth, Corsane ; 
Sane too thou'dst been in ripe age, O heart ! {Cor) 
Heart {Cor) sane as well in youth as in age ; 
Sanei" was the Burgh during thy reign. 

Fronting the ruined structure stands a table tombstone 
in memory of Eobert Corsane of Meikleknox, died 17th 
of February, 1759, aged 61 ; his wife, Agnes M*Gowne, 
and Janet, their daughter, the latter being designated "as 
relict of the deceased David M*Culloch, Esq. of ArdwaU, 
who died here the 16th March, 1824, aged 84 years." When 
Bums was about ''to make a brief tour through GaUoway in 
June, 1794, he trysted Mr M'Culloch to accompany him ; 
and it will be remembered by all who are familiar with the 
poet* s biography that when, later in the same year, during 

* Those of bailie and councillor, 
f Flourishing 



10 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICSAEL's. 

his darkest days, sundry sifly-miiided gentlefolks were for 
giving him the cut direct in High Street, Dumfries, the 
Laird of Ardwall administered a practical rebuke to them 
by greeting the bard with the utmost cordiality, and accom- 
panying him to his own house. The Ardwall family is now 
represented by a public-spirited gentleman, grandson of 
Bums's friend, Mr Walter M'Culloch. 

"We pass on to a spot where stood the torso of a 
cenotaph, raised, we believe, in honour of one of the Edgars 
of Elshieshields. It very much resembled the monument just 
described, only that it was more dilapidated ; and we wish 
it could be added that it had received similar good treatment 
in its old age. It required the trowel of repair, but owing 
to an imfortunate misunderstanding respecting it between 
the curators of the ground and the owner or claimant of the 
property, the hammer of destruction was applied to it in 
September last ; and by its removal the Western Wall lost 
one of its familiar features. It is gratifying for us to be 
able to add that some months afterwards the relics of the relic, 
so far as they could be recovered, were built up anew near 
the original site.* The lintel of the monimient bore the 
fragment of an inscription as follows : 

*'Cenotaphicahac .... illius ^ener et 
Gentilis Georgius .... rygeus impensa 

Propria pie parentavit, 
Vixit Aniios 67. 

Obiit Novembris 1632." 

The epitaph indicates that the son-in-law and kinsman has 

* The papers relating to the property go to prove the following facts 
regarding it : (1) That John Imng, eldest lawful son and heir of Doctor 
J(mn Irving of Neworchyard, in consideration of a sum of money ^aid to 
him by George Kerr, late merchant in Dumfries, disposed to him, on 
24th July 1774, "the tomb, tombstones, and burial places," belong- 
ing to the said John Irving, " lying in St. Michael's churchyeard of 
Drumfries, and which formerly belonged to Elizabeth Johnstone, 
daughter of Elshiesheels," his grandmother ; (2) that Alexander Kerr, 
watchmaker, son of George Kerr, by a deed dated 1st November 1793, 
disponed to John Taylor, weaver, the above burial-ground and tomb- 
stones, "bounded on the south by Irving of Gribton, on the west by 
the street, on the north by Mr. Corson of Meiklenox, and on the east 

hy . " Mr. John Barr, baker, Dumfries, who kindly favoured ua 

with a glance at the documents, is the representative of the deceased 
John Taylor. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAJBL's. 11 

discharged his filial obligation to the deceased by the erection 
of this cenotaph. 

According to an absurd tradition, the two last-mentioned 
monuments and the one next come to, that of the Irving 
family, were sorely maltreated by Cromwell on his return 
from serving CarlaverocK Castle in the same savage style ; but 
the Protector did not here belie his title by acting in any such 
destructive way to either the tombstones or the fortress, the 
siege of the latter, though popularly attributed to him, having 
been carried on by the Covenanters xmder Lieutenant-Colonel 
Home. To the slow sapping process of natural decay the 
mutilation of these monuments was, we believe, solely due. 
The Irving one, like its neighbours, was a wreck tUl about 
forty years since, when it was tastefully repaired ; during the 
interval its lettering has been repeatedly renewed by Mr. 
Thomas "Watson, monumental mason (many traces of whose 
skiKul handicraft are visible in other portions of the yard), 
at the instance of Mr Wellwood Maxwell of Munches, whose 
property it is. At present the tomb is in beautiful condition 
having a strong massive aspect with all its antique character- 
istics carefully retained. It consists of a square central block 
and wings, the latter pedimented and pillared with arched 
panels, the whole surmounted by a rich entablature. 

Below the moulding of the middle piece runs the general 

inscription ; — " Insignum Irvingorum Exegesis'': 

** llicis en instar vivus virtute virebam, 
Nunc vireo coelo providus ante solo." 

A' curve underneath is formed by these words, 
" Memento homo quod cinis es et in cinerem reverteris ;" 
below which are the word FI AH broken up by a device 
of skull and cross-bones, and a New Testament opened at 
Luke XX. and 36th with angelic figures at each side. The 
emblems here introduced illustrate the inscriptions, "Ee- 
member O man that thou are dust and that to dust thou 
shalt return." The inhabitant of the tomb having made 
this general statement ia further supposed to say, I shall 
become as these mouldering relics of mortality, but can 
yet claim to be " equale to the angels, who are the sonnes of 



12 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

God, being of the Eesurrectione.'' Then follow the principal 
epitaphs, two in number, the first running thus^ 

'* Francisco Irvingo Oonsuli 
Charissimo Marito Grata Coniunx ~ ' 

Et patri provido pia pignora justa hsec > ^ . 
Sed justo longe inferiora sacrarunt 
* Obiit 6 Novemb. 1633 ^ta^ An. 68." ' 

The epitaph may be translated as follows : 

A grateful spouse and pious children have dedicated to Francis 
Irving, Consul (or Provost), a very dear husband and a prudent 
father, this monument, which is very inferior to his worth. He died 
6th November 1633, aged 68 years. 

Descended from the powerful Annandale house of Irving, 
the burghal syndic here commemorated founded the Dum- 
fries branch of the family. By marrying the daughter of 
Provost Herbert Baining, he improved his position in the 
town and increased his resources, as his wife brought him a 
rich dowry of lands and heritages. Well-descended, well- 
connected, accomplished, and wealthy, there was no dignity 
which the Burgh had to give beyond his reach ; and before 
long its highest honours were laid at his feet. Francis 
Irving frequently filled the chief magistrate's chair ; as repre- 
sentative of Dumfries, he sat in the Parliament of 1617 ; he 
became about the same period also a favourite at Court, as 
an evidence of which King James VI. gave him bailiary 
jurisdiction over some Crown property in the district ; all 
the time, however, he carried on business as a merchant, in 
which capacity, it is said, he originated a trade with Bor- 
deaux, for the purpose of importing French wines into the 
Burgh. The "grateful spouse" of the epitaph brought him. 
as it informs us, several children, one of whom, his eldest 
son, John, was member of Parliament for the town in 1630 
and 1639, and officiated repeatedly as Provost. Lest the 
virtues expressed by the Latin inscription should, like light 
under a bushel, be unseen of ordinary men, "ane epitaph" 
in Scotch is also given, in which the deceased is represented 

as saying : 

"King James at first me BaHve named 
Drumfreis oft since me Provest clamed 
Ood hast for me ane Growne reserved. 
For King and Countrie have I served.'' 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL* S. 13 

On the back of the monument, fronting the street, appear 
skull, cross-bones, and sand-glass, proclaiming as it were the 
brevity of human life, and Latin words embodying the same 
sentiment with a suitable moral lesson. The classical in- 
scription runs thus : 

** Memento Mori. 

Parseneais ad viatorem. 

Fabella bulla nimbus vanitas. 

Flos fumus umbra somnium. 

Hinc ergo fluxa setatis ecce clepsydra. 

In ossa solvor arida. 

Incerta certa mortis bora te premit 

Sic vive discas ut mori. 

Freely translated, the inscription reads as follows : 

Be mindful of death, O traveller ! Life is a tale, a bubble, a cloud, 
a vanity. What have we been but a flower, a shadow, a dream ? 
Therefore behold in a sand-glass the flow of our existence. I have 
crumbled into dry dust. Certain is the uncertain hour of death. 
So live that thou may est learn to die. 

The burial-gi-ound of the Irvings now belongs to a family 
with whom they were closely Connected, the Barncleuch 
Maxwells, their head in 1665 having acquired it, we believe, 
by marrying a daughter of John Irving of Friars' Carse ; 
they are now represented by a most worthy gentleman, Mr. 
"Wellwood Herries Maxwell of Munches, Convener of the 
Stewartry, and its representative in Parliament from 
January 1868 till Februar)' 1874. His grandfather. Well- 
wood Johnstone, a cadet of the Westerhall family, Annan- 
dale, inherited Barncleuch in 1776, and took the name of 
Maxwell on the death of James Maxwell of Barncleuch, 
son of "Wellwood's grandfather by his first marriage ; and 
strengthened his connection with the parent stem of all 
the Dumfriesshii'e and Galloway Maxwells by marrying 
Katherine, daughter of Terraughtie, " The Maxwell's vet'ran 
chief,** as he is termed by Burns. Both lie under the 
shadow of the Irving monument, and the inscription on the 
south panel, which tells truthfully of their numerous virtues, 
affords us also a glimpse of protracted connubial happiness 
such as falls to the lot of few. We quote the epitaph entire : 



14 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHA£L's. 

'*B7 this stone are laid the remains of Wellwood Maxwell of Bam- 
cleuoh, who was born 29th Octr., 1747, ahd who died 11th June, 
1833. Pious without ostentation, religious without intolerance, he 
sought to do his dutj to Qod without offending men. A ^ood and 
kind father, he deserved the respect and secured the affection of his 
numerous family. In friendship constant and sincere, in social 
intercourse affable, hospitable, humane- He passed thro* life in 
cordial union during 55 years with Catherine Maxwell, his beloved 
wife, daughter of John Maxwell of Terraughtie k Munches, who bom 
in April, 1754, died 26th November, 1832, and lies interred beside 
him. A lady of a vigorous and active mind, obliging, courteous, 
charitable ; supporting her husband throughout in every religious, 
pasental, and social duty ; and like him leaving this life esteemed, 
beloved, regretted." 

On the north panel there is an inscription in memory 
of two estimable sons of the wedded pair who lie 
beside them — ^Wellwood Maxwell of The Grove, died 27th 
June 1867, aged 81, and Alexander Maxwell of Glen- 
gaber, died 9th March of the same year, aged 80 ; and of 
other descendants, including a grandson, George Maxwell, 
bom at Liverpool, 22d April, 1834, and unfortunately 
drowned while angling in the river Ken, 21st September, 
1854. 




01I-A.FTER. II. ^ 
ALONG THB WESTERN WALL (CONTINUED). 

MONG the Burgh patricians of by-gone times the 
Gilchrists occupied an honourable and sometimes 
a conspicuous place, and numbers of them neighbour 
in death, as they did in life, the Irving family. Their oldest 
tombstone, a stately venerable structure, treasures the 
memery of " John Gilchrist, merchant, late one of the bailies 
of Dumfries," who took a prominent part in preparing to give 
Viscount Kenmure a warm reception had his threat of 
besieging the town been carried into effect, died Sept. 2d 
1733, aged 73 ; also of Lilias Maxwell, his spouse, and 
several descendants or other relatives, and bears to have been 
erected, "as a testimony of duty and gratitude," by their 
children. Supplementary side-tablets commemorate James 
Gilchrist, merchant, died 22d April, 1772, aged 77 ; Marion 
Goldie, his spc use ; and " a numerous family, all of whom, 
with the exception of one son, died young." Also, James 
Gilchrist, jun., merchant, died September, 1768, aged 30 ; 
Marion Corrie, his spouse ; and James, their son, a writer to 
the Signet, died 28th August, 1816, aged 51. An adjoining 
monument, of more recent date, bears the names of two 
eminent physicians, the son and grandson, we presume, of 
Bailie Gilchrist. On the centre compartment of the monument 
there is an oval tablet, with the following inscription : 

"Hie 

Conduntur reliqui® 

Eben Gilchrist, M.D., 

Qui 

Artem medendi 

in hac urbe 

per annos amplius quadraginta 

felicissime exercebat 

Bummamque laudem 

tam viri 

quam medici 

assecutus 

Obiit A.D. MDCCLXXIV. 

Aetatis LXVII." 



16 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Done into English^ the epitaph runs thus : 

Here rest the remains of Eben. Gilchrist, M.D., who practised 
medicine in this city for more than forty years, and enjoyed the 
highest reputation, not only as a physician, but as a man. Be 
died in the 67th year of his age. A.D. 1774. 

The side panel, south, commemorates one who was a 

benevolent Christian gentleman, as well as a distinguished 

Esculapian, in these words : 

'* Sacred to the memory of Dr. John Gilchrist, physician in 
Dumfries, who died tbe 10th of September, 1830, in the 83d year of 
his age, and is here interred. During many years of his long and 
useful life he practised his profession in this town and over an ex- 
tensive neighbourhood, and was not less eminent for his medicul 
skill, than for the many virtues which adorned his Ufe. In his 
cbaracter were happily united the elegant accomplishments of the 
scholar with the meek humility of the pious Christian ; and he was 
esteemed by all who knew him for the benevolence of his heart, and 
the urbanity of his manners. He was chiefly instrumental in pro- 
jecting and establishing that invaluable institution, the Dumfries 
and Galloway Infinnary, and during forty years of his life he 
watched over it with parental care. He lived beloved and respected, 
and died universally lamented." 

The opposite panel is dedicated to his wife, Grizzel 
Corrie, one son, James, who " died in early manhood ;" four 
daughters, Marion, who died at the age of 48, Grizzel at 55, 
Janet at 61, Anne at 67 ; and four other female children who 
died in infancy. A sarcophagus of graceful shape is seen in front 
of the monument. The grave-places just noticed are now the 
property of Mr. Gilchrist Clark of Speddoch, descended from 
the family by the mother's side. 

The next monument tells that one of the provosts given 
by the family of Crosbie to the Burgh sleeps below ; and 
their name and territorial patronymic are alike suggestive. 
The structure itself, though much defaced, is of a bold, 
unique, and graceful design, displaying f owiug masses of 
masonic drapery, with tablets on eacli side, flanked by 
pilasters made up of mimic books, indicating, probably, the 
literary tastes of the deceased, whose epitaph runs thus : 

*' Here lyes interred the body of John Crosbie of Holm, merchant, 
late Provost of Dumfries. He died the 12 day of juUy, 1720, in the 
t>9 year of his age." 

His civic rule extended over three triennial periods — 
1708-9-10, 1712-3-4, and 1716-7-8. A slab lying on the ground 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 17 

below bears the relics of an inscription, tbe meaning of 
which cannot be traced ; but it may have been designed to 
commemorate Andrew Crosbie, son of John, who was also 
repeatedly chosen chief magistrate. When the young Pre- 
tender occupied Dumfries towards the close of 1745, he, on a 
false alarm, left his quarters in a hurry, and as he could not 
get hold of the reigning ruler, Mr George Bell, he carried oflF 
with him to Glasgow ex-Provost Andrew Crosbie and Mr. 
Walter Riddel of Glenriddel as hostages for the black mail he 
had levied on the town. Scott's Peter Pleydell, the witty, 
learned, and rollicking counsellor who figures so amusingly in 
" Guy Mannering," was a transcript of Andrew Crosbie, ad- 
vocate, the son of " Bonnie Charlie's " captive hostage, only 
that the original was considerably more discreet, though not 
less gifted, than Dandie Din months legal adviser. It may 
perhaps be assumed that the scholarly and jocular advocate, 
who was often consulted on knotty burghal questions, lies 
here interred. In bending over the spot, the words of 
Hamlet flit across the mind : " Alas, poor Yorick ! I knew 
him, Horatio ; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent 
fancy. Where be your gibes now ? your gambols ? your 
songs ? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the 
table in a roar ?" Holm, the family house, is still to the fore, 
and thither Bums used often to direct his course when it 
was occupied by Mr. Walter Eiddel (grandson of Provost 
Crosbie's fellow captive in the '46) and his accomplished wife 
Maria Woodley, after whom the mansion was called Woodley 
Park, and with whom, we need scarcely say, the poet was 
long on very intimate terms. This old domicile, so interest- 
ingly associated, stands about four miles south-west of Dum- 
fries, and is now known by the name of Goldielea. 

A stately modern monument is next arrived at, "Sacred 
to the memory of William Thomson, Esq. of Woodhouse," 
who was a gentleman of high moral worth and culture. It 
was to Mr. * Thomson, as connected with the Dumfries 
Library, that Bums consigned his present of " De Lolme on 
the British Constitution," after he had written upon it " Mr 

Bums presents this book to the library, and begs they will 

B 



18 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

take ifc as a creed of British liberty till they find a better f 
and the recipient of the volume had to allow the repentant 
bard next day to paste up the leaf that bore these perilous 
words. The book now belongs to our Mechanics' Institute 
Library, and when held up to the light it betrays the in- 
scription, which seems innocent to us, but whi(^h might have 
proved hurtful to the poet as a Government officer, at a time 
when Reform and Revolution were generally deemed con- 
vertible terms. Mr. Thomson was elevated to the provost- 
ship in 1819 ; and served the Burgh so well that he was 
re-chosen in 1824. Under his auspices, as chairman, the 
Mechanics' Institute just named was started 15th March 
1825; and on the 9th of next September it devolved upon 
him to present the Seven Trades with a magnificent gold 
chain for their Convener, in name of the subscribers, which 
he did in an eloquent address, worthy of the occasion. For 
many years afterwai'ds, Mr. Thomson officiated aa Sheriff- 
Clerk of Dumfriesshire. He died 22d December 1847, aged 
77. His wife, Agnes Johnstone ; their daughter Catherine, 
who died when 21 ; and two of their other children, who 
died very young, are also named upon the monument. 

Even as Provost Crosbie of Holm often sat at the same 
Council Board with his immediate successor, George Bell, so 
the bodies of the two chief magistrates were not far separated 
in the grave, the next monument we reach being that of 
Provost Bell, who bore rule as such for nine years at different 
periods, and who, as already mentioned, happened to occupy 
the civic chair when the town received its unwelcome visit 
from " The young Chevalier/* During his stay, the Jacobite 
Prince acted as his own Provost, and something more, 
making forced levies of money, arms, and shoes, and " living 
at heck and manger." Provost Bell did his best, without 
effect, to keep the kilted strangers at a safe distance ; and 
when they did make their appearance, he and the other local 
authorities had nothing to do but submit. The monument 
is a plain, substantial structure, and it will be seen that the 
inscription upon it, which is as follows, makes no special refer- 
ence to the leading episode in the public life of the deceased : 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 19 

"This monument is erected to the memory of George Bell of 
Conheath, who was esteemed in life, a good and piibUo-spirited 
magistrate, in business diligent and active, in frieDOship generous 
and disinterested, a tender and affectionate husband, benevolent to 
all, liberal to the poor ; in death a pattern of patience, fortitude, and 
resignation. He died May 12, 1751, aged 55 years." 

Dr. Alexander Carlyle, the famous minister of Inyeresk, 
whose curious autobiography appeared in 1860, was nephew 
to the deceased, and when a boy paid him many visits ; it 
is not unlikely, we think, that the above well-composed 
eulogium was a tribute from the heart and pen of " Jupiter 
Carlyle " to his worthy uncle the Provost. 

South of this stone, and within the same enclosure, there are 
two smaller upright slabs and several thrughs or slabs placed 
over the Dicksons, near relatives of the family just noticed, 
and who gave numerous conveners to the Seven Trades, and 
several bailies and one provost to the Magisterial Bench. 
One of the uprights is in memory of Provost John Dickson, 
also of Conheath, who died in 1788, aged 77, and of Helen 
Wight, his spouse, daughter of the Eev. Robert Wight, 
minister of St. MichaeFs from 1731 till 1764 ; another of 
whose daughters was married to Provost Bell, and a third 
was the mother of the notable Inveresk divine already 
named. 

Again the incidents of the Jacobite occupation come up as we 
read, on the next stone, " Here lies the body of George Lowthian 
of Staffold, Cumberland," and on an adjoining one a tribute 
in Latin to the memory of his son, Richard Lowthian. 
Under what circumstances the elder Lowthian was led to 
settle in Dumfriesshire, which he did in 1705, is not precisely 
known, but we infer that a chivalrous attachment to the 
house of Stuart had something to do with his crossing the 
Border to plant his staff in the remote district of Leadhills, 
where, as the inscription states, he resided 30 years— dying in 
Dumfries on the 21st of December, 1735. 

His son Richard continued to reside in the town, purchasing 
property there — ^among other heritages, the house where the 
Pretender held council and kept Court during his brief 



20 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

sojourn. This historical domicile stiU remdns, much tnuis- 
formed externally, however, as the Commercial Hotel in High 
Street ; but the apartments, Nos. 6 and 7, which formed the 
Dumfries palace of King James the Seventh's grandson have 
fortunately experienced little change, and the chief one is 
popularly known as "Prince Charlie's Room." Robert 
Chambers, in his "Picture of Scotland," states that the 
proprietor of the house, though a Non-juror, and as 'such 
favourable to the Prince's claims, " judged it prudent not to 
appear in his company ; and yet neither did he wish to 
offend him by the appearance of going deliberately out of 
his way. The expedient he adopted in this dilemma was one 
highly characteristic of the time. He got himself filled so 
exceedingly drunk that his being kept back from the company 
of the guest was only a matter of decency. His wife, who 
could not well be taxed with treason, did the honours of the 
house without scruple, and some other Jacobite ladies, 
particularly those of the attainted house of Camwath, came 
forward to grace the Court." On this piece of traditional 
gossip no great reliance need be placed by the reader. Long 
after the date of the fanciful interlude which it describes we 
find Richard Lowthian appearing in a fairer and truer light 
as one of the founders of the Episcopalian congregation in 
Dumfries, the first humble meeting-house of which was built 
from funds partly lent by the opulent lord of Staffold Hall. 

The monument to his father, Ionic in design, wears an 
aspect that is at once antique and tasteful, only that the 
pediment is rather disfigured than ornamented by a cherub's 
head with a most rueful physiognomy, perched above the 
epitaph, which is in these terms : 

" In Memoriam 

optimi viri D. G. L. 

Intimae erga Deum pietatis 

Insimulatse erga proximos 

charitatis. 

Patriae principis cleri suorumque 

amantissimus, in peragendiB negotiis 

veiitatis et justitiae majcime tenax 

animi erga singulos vere benigni 

Insigne exemplum." 



MEMORIAXS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 21 

A few words added in English inform ordinary readers that 
George Lowthian of Staffold, Cumberland, lies below ; that 
he lived at Leadhills, Clydesdale, for 30 years ; and died at 
Dumfries, on the 21st of December, 1736, aged 70. The 
Latin epitaph may be thus translated : 

In memory of the excellent Mr George Lowthian, a man of the 
strictest piety towards God, and of unfeigned charity to his neigh- 
bours. He loved his country, his king, his church, and his own 
kindred, and in all he did was remarkably tenacious of truth and 
justice. He was a glorious example of truly benevolent disposition. 

An intimation on the pedestal states that the structure was 
restored in 1845 by "John Hall de Mollance," and' though 
it is in tolerably good preservation, it is not without need 
of being again repaired. 

On the son's tombstone, which *is of the tabular form, 
there is a classical inscription in these terms : 

'* Hie Jacet 

Quod mortale fuit 

Eicardi Lowthian de Staffold armigeri 

vir 

pietate 

charitate 

et benevolentia cordis 

insignis. 

Obiit 

primo Maise 1784 

JE'etat. xc." 

Here lyes what was mortal of Bichard Lowthian of Staffold, 
Esquire : a man eminent for piety, charity, and benevolence of 
heart. He died 1st of May 1784, aged 90. 

Adjoining is the grave-plot of a related family, that of 
George Boss, merchant, with a monument upon it in memory 
of Ann Dickson, his spouse ; five of their children ; and his 
brother, John Boss, surgeon, died 25th May 1750, aged 25. 
Both of the deceased gentlemen were nephews of Bichard 
Lowthian. 

THE SOUTH-WEST CORNER. 

Arrived at the south-west corner, a fabric displaying some 
fine workmanship meets the eye ; but all the artistic labour 
and large money outlay spent upon it are now of little avail, 
as the inscription which it bore is so obliterated that it must 
soon become a blank. With difficulty we ai*e able to as- 



22 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

oertam that the sepulchre below contains the remains of 
Bailie James Gordon, writer, and of his spouse, — Rule, 
the former of whom died in September 1736. Bailie Gordon 
was lieutenant of one of the seven volunteer companies or- 
ganised by Provost John Crosbie to defend Dumfries, when 
it was menaced by the Jacobites under Lord Kenmure. He 
was probably a cadet of the Earlston family. Both in the 
last century and in this the name of Gordon, as associated 
with the legal profession and the magisterial bench, appears 
repeatedly in the annals of the town. 

On the wall beside the foregoing rises the grandest of all 
the old memorial stones with which the churchyard is graced, 
and it needs no direct appeal to secure attention ; its bold 
graceful outlines and beautiful sculptured work being enough 
to secure the notice of the most careless passenger, and 
rendering it a perfect study to the artist. The style is 
Eennaisance of the richest kind, but by whom planned or 
carried out is not .known. "We have heard the supposition 
hazarded that this masonic gem may have been brought out 
of its rude stone materials by the cunning hand of some of 
the artists employed on St. Paul's Cathedral, London ; and 
the design is certainly worthy of Inigo Jones. The main 
portion, or body of the work, includes an oblong diagonal 
tablet, flanked with Corinthian pillars, and having boy-like 
genii, three feet six inches high, on each side. A mass of 
drapery, gracefully disposed, veils the basement. The en- 
tablature looks like a pavilion of clouds, in which three 
winged cherubs are disporting complacently. A suitable 
crown for the entire edifice is supplied by a sharply-peaked 
pediment, florid with roses, vines, and foliage, such as 
Grinling Gibbons might have carved, and having in the 
centre a round shield, the dexter side of which displays the 
Elirkpatrick device of a hand and dagger. Each of the three 
compartments that make up the mommient has a symbolic 
meaning : the pall-like robes below, disclosing a winged skull, 
being emblematic of death ; the figures which support the 
middle piece personifying grief for the departed ; and the 
clouds over all representing the heavenly region where 



MEMORIALS OF ST. HICHABL's. 23 

suffering and sorrow are alike unknown. The cranium^ 
which is in profile, has been so artistically treated as to lose 
much of its intrinsic repulsiveness ; and the child-like figures 
are so beautiful that Canova might have been proud to claim 
them as the product of his chisel. Faultless in conformation, 
they could have passed for Cupids had they not been incarna- 
tions of woe. One of them has the right foot planted upon a 
skull^ not to show that a victory has been obtained over 
death, but that death has occasioned all the irrepressible 
grief of the little mourner ; and his companion on the other 
side is wringing his hands in the abandonment of a sorrow 
that refuses to be comforted. 

The monument, magnificent in itself, is rendered all the 
more attractive from the circumstance that it belongs to the 
Sharpes of Hoddam, an ancient historical race founded by 
I von Earkpatrick about seven hundred years ago, whose 
chief. Sir Roger, completed the slaughter of CJomyn which 
Bruce had begun. Thus the dust buried here vividly recalls 
to us the men and the incidents of Scotland's national resur- 
rection. 

William Kirkpatrick of Ellisland, a direct descendant of 
the "I'll mac siccar" chief, married a daughter of Lord 
Justice Clerk Erskine ; and their son Charles having been, 
bequeathed the estate of Hoddam by Matthew Sharpe, he 
took the surname of Sharpe in terms of the entail. General 
Sharpen Charles Sharpens eldest son, was the first member for 
the Dumfries Burghs elected under the Reform Act 1832. 
In returning thanks for the honour awarded to him, he 
feelingly referred to the family burial-place, expressing a 
wish that his ashes might be laid there, so that in death as 
in life he might maintain his connection with the county 
town. "Provided I do my duty," he further said, "to the 
satisfaction of the constituency, I hope some surviving friend, 
after my course is run, will inscribe on my tombstone — ^for I 
can desire no prouder epitaph — ^"Here rest the remains of 
the first representative of the Independent Constituency of 
the Dumfries District of Burghs." The gallant member, 
however, was buried in Hoddam Churchyard, as were his 



24 MEHOBIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

brothers, Admiral A. K. Sharpe and Charles Kirkpatrick 
Sharpe, the distmguished wit, antiquary, poet, and artist ; 
and of course the St. Michael's monument bears no such 
inscription as the above. The only one upon it reads thus : 
*^ Here is interred the body of Sussana Muir, spouse to John 
Sharpe of Hoddam, who died in 57th year of her age, 26th 
day of the month of October, in the year of our lord 1710/ 
She was from Oassencairie in Galloway. The monument 
has been recently repainted, and the marble-like hue it now 
wears displays its beauties with full effect. Mr. William 
Sharpe of Hoddam is the present worthy representative of 
this ancient house. 

Neighbouring the Hoddam monument on the east side a 
stately structure rises, in the Ionic style, to mark the burial- 
place of John Gibson, who died at Braehead, Kirkmahoe, on 
the 20th of August 1836, and of his wife, Elizabeth Scott, 
and their children — Thomas, aged 25 : Jessie, 21 ; WiUiam, 
28 ; Edward Watson, 45 ; and John Erskine. The latter, a 
surgeon by profession, was an accomplished gentleman, who 
died on the 19th of January 1833, at the early age of 31. 
He furnished many admirable contributions to the Dumfries 
Magazine; one of them in particular, "The Country Kim," 
manifesting great descriptive power, and a racy humour much 
resembling that of " Famous Eergusson.'' JohnErskine Gibson 
also published a meritorious professional work entitled "A 
Medical Sketch of Dumfriesshire,'' and his name occupies a 
distinguished place in the journal of Captain Scoresby, whom 
he accompanied to the Arctic regions, and to whose dis- 
coveries there he added many valuable particulars. He 
excelled also in natural history and antiquarian pursuits, the 
taste for which has been inherited by his son, Mr W. G. 
Gibson, his sole male representative. The monument also 
commemorates Mary Gibson, sister of the above John Gibson 
and wife of E. Watson, died 16th September 1854, aged 66. 
The Gibsons of this branch are an old Dumfries family, 
having resided in the town for centuries, during which the 
deaconship of the Fleshers' Corporation was so often held 
by them as to have almost seemed hereditary. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 25 

Two brothers, noted builders in their day, occupy narrow 
houses near by, namely, Thomas and Andrew Twaddell, each 
of whom was honoured to be deacon of the Squaremen. 
The former died on July 8th 1762, at the age of 55 ; the 
latter on the 9th October 1787, at the age of 52. In con- 
junction with Alexander Affleck, Thomas Twaddell built the 
Church and Steeple of St. Michael's, which were completed in 
1745, about the time the Highlanders occupied the town. 
Whilst surveying the humble table tombstones below which 
these builders lie, we think of the serio-comic dialogue of 
the clowns in Hamlet. "Who," asks one of them, "builds 
stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?" to 
which his fellow-sexton replies, " A grave-maker ; the houses 
that he makes last till doomsday.'' Even so, the lowly tene- 
ments excavated in "Grod's acre" abide, without needing 
renewal, though the lordly mansions, " the gorgeous palaces, 
and solemn temples" reared for living men, crumble away 
and disappear, however strong and stately. 




OH-A-FTBR III, 

BETWEEN THE WESTERN WALL AND THE FOOTPATH 

EASTWARD. 

UR survey must now extend over a considerable tract of 
ground which lies between the western boundary and 
the footpath that curves from the gate to the south 
gable of the Church, and then takes a southerly direction. Here 
the ground is crowded with tombstones, chiefly of the altar 
shape, commemorating magistrates, merchants, craftsmen, 
and others. Giving precedence due to "the authorities," 
even though dead, we begin with such memorials of departed 
provosts as are to be found in the section ; to reach which 
a discursive march has to be taken. 

A towering obelisk " lifts its tall head^* high above neigh- 
bouring stones, on the plinth of which several members of 
the Duchra family are named ; descendants of William Craik 
of Arbigland and Duchrae, or Duchra, who had the honour 
of being chosen the first Provost of Dumfries after the 
Revolution Settlement. On the north side there is a Latin 
inscription, which simply states that "Jeanse Craik de 
Duchra" was bom on .the 20th of March 1712, and died on 
the 11th of July 1762. On the south side is the name 
" Joannis Stewart, armigeri de Castle-Stewart," bom 14th of 
November 1700, died on the 12th of January 1769. The 
east side, half hidden by an upright slab, bears the 
following epitaph : 

** Leotissimis parentibus sibi amicisque charissimia 

Joanni Stewart annigero de Castlestewart 

et Jeansd Craik filise Guliebni Craik armigeri 

de Duchra momimentum hoc qualecumque 

pietatis grataeque mentis indicium GuUelmus 

fiUus natu maximus msBrens posuit 

A.D. MDCCXiXX," 

This we translate as follows : 

In memory of his beloved parents and dearest friends, John 
Stewart, Esq. of Castle-Stewart, and Jane Craik, daughter of William 
Craik, Esq. of Duchra, William, their eldest son, has in great grief 
erected this monument, such as it is, to show his filial affection and 
grateful remembrance. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 27 

» 

The tablet on the West side is dedicated to the memory of 
Mary Charlotte Bouverie Campbell, who died on the 16th of 
November, 1837, aged 12 ; and of " Grace Macandie Camp- 
bell, her mother, who died at Albany Place here, on 5th 
January, 1855, aged 50 years" — Mrs Campbell having been 
connected with the Craiks by marriage. 

Overlooked by the pillar, and fronting the wall, two very 
old flat slabs are visible. On a portion of one of them some 
lines, carved in relief, could readily be traced, but they have 
suffered so much abrasion from the hand of Time, and the 
feet of irreverent travellers, that we tried repeatedly without 
success to decipher them ; and at length turned away only 
half contented, recording our belief that the lines "were 
designed to commemorate the Provost William Craik already 
mentioned, but, unfaithful to their trust, they reveal neither 
name nor date.'* On a final attempt being made, the task 
was unexpectedly much facilitated by Mr. Watson, monu- 
mental mason, who, after brushing up the face of the stone, 
washed it well over — ^the flood of water formed upon it 
operating like a flood of light, through which medium we 
succeeded in discovering the suggestive words, "Hie jacet 
. . . Gulielmi Craik, consulis," . . . and after a long, 
tantalising hiatus, " Anno Dom. 1697." Our anticipation waa 
thus realised, and the identification of Provost's Craik's tomb- 
stone complete. At this stage we obtained the aid of Dr« 
Cranstoun, who, with his assistant, Mr. J. F. Eowbotham, 
scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, and an excellent 
Latinist, pored over the still mysterious epitaph for several 
hours, resting not till its ipsissima verba had been wrung out, 
as it were, to their great gratification and ours. The valuable 
historical inscription thus recovered runs as follows : — 

^ ** Hie jacet corpus consultissimi viri. 

Gulielmi Craik de Arbigland, nuper Dumfrisii consulis, 

qui ecclesisB Christi, patriae suae humi, suae civitatis fidus aesertor 

erat, 

qui fin em vitae curuli feliciter imposuit 

primo die Aprilis, Anno Dom. 1697. ^tatis suae ." 

Which words may be thus rendered : — 



28 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

Here lies the body of the most worshipful William Oraik of Arbig- 
land, late Provost of Dumfries, who was a staunch champion of 
Christ's Church, of his native land, and of his own town, who brought 
his civic career to a prosperous close on the 1st of April, A.D. 1697, 
in the — year of his age. 

On the same stone, below this epitaph, there is the sub- 
joined one, cut in letters that are less antique, though it was 
no easy matter to make them out : — 

** Sub hoc cippo quiescunt 

cineres GUcerii' Valla) 

Gulielmi Craik de Duch 

rae conjugis qusB mortem 

obiit 13 die mensis Augusti, 

anno MDCCXIV et setatis sua XLIIL" 

** O Mors quid jactas ? quamvis superasse videris, 
Existat superis meliore quiete oritura." 

Bead in English, the inscription runs thus :- 

Under this slab rest the ashes of Glicerium Wallace, wife of William 
Craik of Duchrae, who died on the 13th of August, A.D. 1714, in the 
43d year of her age. 

O Death, why boastest thou ? Though thou thinkesi; to have laid 
her low, yet we pray she may live on high to rise, like the sun, in a 
happier land of rest. 

There was no more notable man of his day in Dumfries than 
the half-forgotten magistrate whose honoured bones were 
here deposited. He was first chosen as burghal ruler in 
1674, and it was not till the Michaelmas of 1678 that he 
fell back into the ranks for a short period, when David 
Bishop received the reins. Next year they were handed to 
Mr. Craik, and after the troublous and testing eight years 
which ensued, we find him again presiding as provost when 
William and Mary were proclaimed king and queen at the 
Dumfries Market Cross, and the religious freedom for 
which he had contended was settled upon a lasting basis.*^ 
We copy from the eighth volume of the Acts of the Scottish 

* The following extract from the St. Michael Kirk Session Becords. 
dated 4th July 1700, affords us a pleasing glimpse of the Provost and 
his spouse, as benefactors of the poor: *'The Session, considering 
that William Craik of Arbigland, late Provost of this Burgh, a little 
before his death, had mortified to the poor of this Burgh the sum of 
five hundred merks, which he ordered his son, Adam Craik of Arbig- 
land, to pay ; as also that his lady had mortified one hundred merks 
for the use foresaid, to be paid by her son, William Craik of Duchrae, 
snd thai; the term of payment is now elapsed : they appointed Mr. 
Patoun to advertise them to pay it.*' 



MElfORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 29 

Parliament the "Eoyal Eatification" granted to the deceased 
gentleman in 1681 : 

^'Oar sovereign lord affirms aud confirms the charter made and 
granted hy his majestic under the great scale at Whitehall, the eight 
day of June, 1666, in favor of his majestie's lovit William Crsok, 
Provost of Dumfries ... all and haill the lands of Duchraw, 
extending to ane Ten-pound land of old extent, containing and com- 
prehending the particular lands under written, viz.: the lands of 
Tomorroch, Rone, Drumglass, the two Duchraws, Clone, Barbech, 
XJroch, Uliack, The Maines. the two Craigs, Drumbreck, with the 
milne of Duchraw, milne lands, multure, &c., togither with the 
fishing in the water of Die, belonging to the said lands, all lying 
within the parochis of Balmaghie and Stewartree of Kirkcudbright 
and Sheriffdome of Dumfries." 

The slab which lies alongside of the Provost's stone covers 
the remains of " Jean Heron, daughter of Andrew Heron of 
Bargali," wife of a member of the Castle-Stewart family, 
with whom that of Duchra was closely connected, and who 
"was bom 10th of March 1687, and died 27th of June 1753." 

Immediately adjoining this imposing structure stands the 
neat family monument of William Bell, Provost of Dumfries 
in 1864. On it is inscribed the name of his only son, David 
Bell, a very amiable and gifted young man, who breathed 
his last on the 23d of January 1864, in the 26th year of his 
age ; and of whom it was truly said by a congenial spirit, the 
late Mr. David Dunbar, schoolmaster and poet, that "he 
was manly when a boy and noble during a whole life, and 
brief though it was he compressed into it the work of a long 
life-time." The father, mother, brothers, and sisters of 
ex-Provost Bell are borne in remembrance by an inscription 
on a slab below : David Bell, coal merchant, died 5th June 
1845, aged 76 ; Agnes Lockhart, his wife ; George H. Bell, 
their son, died 12th April 1838, aged 31 ; Agnes and Jane, 
their daughters, the former of whom died 31st March 1865, 
aged 60, the latter 18th April 1867, aged 66. 

The next stone we have to notice carries us away in fancy 
niany centuries back — ^the name upon it, Corbet, being that 
of a family who passed northward from Cumberland when 
William the Lion bore rule ; and one oJBfshoot, settling down 
in Dumfries, became, genealogically speaking, a goodly tree 
of large size and great productiveness. Many of the Corbets, 



30 MKKOBIALS OF ST. HICHAKL's. 

thus far descended, held bnrghal rank as trade conveners 
and bailies, and at least two of them officiated as chief 
magistrates. The most noteworthy of the latter was Provost 
James Corbet, whose contest with another candidate for the 
civic chair in 1759 gave rise to the strife between ^ the Pyets 
and the Crows," that forms snch an extraordinary episode in 
the annals of the Burgh ; and of which an account ia after- 
wards given in connection with his monument, which stands 
on the north wall near the entrance-gate. It is his father, 
we presume, who is commemorated on the table-stone before 
us, which bears this inscription : 

"Here lyes John Corbet, late baillie of Dumfries, who Departed 
this life the 20th day of Nov., 1682, and of his age 52.** 

Also, the following Latin epitaph : 

** Hie jacet nrbanns comis miserisqae benignus, 

Prudens conjagio fidiis. amansque bom. 
FascibuB omatus, Justus, mens aequa secundis. 

Nee depressa mails : posthuma fama viget." 

A translation is subjoined : 

Here lies a citizen who was courteous, charitable to the distressedy 
thrifty, faithful to the marriage vow, and a lover of virtue. He was 
decked with ciric honours, was upright in all his dealings, neither 
elated by prosperity nor dejected by adversity : his fame lives still. 

Neighbouring the Corbet monument, one of a plainer 
pattern rises to mark the resting place of another municipal 
ruler, Thomas Edgar of Reidbank, who was Provost in 
1730-1-2, dying on the 14th of September 1739, "aged 78 
years and 8 months"; the stone ako commemorating his 
spouse, Janet Beid, daughter of a merchant, who lies in an 
adjoining grave. 

Ebenezer Hepburn, a successful merchant who, as Bailie 
Hepbiim, figured in the Pyet-and-Crow conflict, was raised 
to the provostship in 1762 ; and he had the honour of being 
re-elected in 17^8. A ta]}le monument raised over his 
spouse, Margaret M'Gachie, is seen further south, though it 
does not appear that he lies in the same locality. Happy 
must Provost Hepburn have been in his household affairs if 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 31 

the epitaph on the stone does no more than justice to his 
better half. After stating that she departed this life on the 
19th of March 1765, at' the age of 48, her character is thus 
depicted : " Distinguished by sweetness of temper and sim- 
plicity of manners, she adorned the beauties of the person 
with those of the mind, and was truly the virtuous as well 
as the amiable woman." Three of her children, it is added, 
were buried beside her, including " Jean :" " what the mother 
was the daughter promised to be," but " fell death's untimely 
frost" nipped the budding flower before she had reached 
"sweet sixteen." 

Within a low square enclosure, about three yards eastward, 
there are three stones, and near them, northward, two stones, 
all of the tabular form, which bear the names of distinguished 
families, the Coplands of Colliston and the Gordons of Earl- 
ston, whose members repeatedly intennarried with each 
other. The former claim to have sprung from the Yorkshire 
knight who captured David II. at the battle of Neville's 
Cross; the latter are nearly related to the noble house 
of Kenmure, and had as one of their forebears the famoTis 
Alexander Gordon of Airds, who pioneered the Eeformation 
in Dumfriesshire and Galloway ; and they gave at least one 
martyr to the cause of the Covenant in 1679. On one of the 
tables we read : " Here lyes the body of John Copland of 
Dalbeattie, late Provost of Dumfries, who died February, 
1695, aged 78 years." He was chief magistrate in 1680-1-2-3, 
during which time the Persecution, as it is emphatically 
called, raged over the district ; and such sympathy with its 
victims was shewn by him and by his immediate predecessors. 
Provosts Bishop and Craik, that Claverhouse complained of 
them to his superior officer, designating them ironically as 
the " well-affected magistrates of Dumfries." Another of the 
stones records the death of William Copland of Colliston on 
on 9th February 1715, at the age of 77 ; of Alexander Cop- 
land^ his son, on 11th June, 1774, aged 74 ; and of Anne, his 
spouse, daughter of Sir Thomas Gordon of Earlston, Bart.; 
and bears the following touching, though inflated, tribute, 
which is now barely legible : 



32 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

" If all those who well knew and oonld record his integrity, public 
spirit, and benevolence, and her amiable manners and worUi, had 
been immortal, this memorial need not have been inscribed hj their 
eldest son, William Copland of Collistonn. Anno ^tat Su» 71. 
A.D. 1808." 

A third stone commemorates Thomas Copland of Blackwood, 
advocate, " lawful sone to William Copland of Colliston, who 
lived beloved, and died lamented the 2nd of September, 1735, 
aged 28 ;" also Susan, the advocate's sister, died 11th November 
1832, aged 86, "highly esteemed and sincerely regretted.'' 
The William Copland here mentioned was municipal chief 
for two periods — 1702-3-4 and 1706-7-8. During his "reign 
the Mid-Steeple was biiilt, the Town Mills on the Max- 
welltown side were constructed, and the Caul was carried 
across the Nith in order to bring their machinery into play. 
Looking carefully below the most northerly of the Colliston 
monuments, we find it resting upon an older stone, bearing 
the oldest inscription in the entire churchyard ; but which, 
owing to its position, only reveals the name of " William Cop- 
land," with the date of his death, " December, 1620." 

On the Gordon stones we read of Margaret M*Gowan, 
spouse to William Copland of Colliston, died 17th September 
1730, aged 55 ; of John Eonaldson of Blairhall, who married 
Ann, only child of the above, died 22d June 1796, aged 33 ; 
of James Gordon, youngest son of Sir Thomas Gordon of 
Earlston, who died before he reached manhood ; and of 
other connections of the family. 

Whilst, in the autumn of 1706, one of the fabrics just 
named, the Steeple, was gradually rising up to a height 
which enabled it to overlook all the other buildings of the 
Burgh, a formidable crowd met at the Market Cross on its 
north side, and burned the Articles of Union, to shew their 
detestation of that measure — a feeling with which all the 
local rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, had full sympathy. A 
striking evidence of this hostility to the union with England 
is supplied by a monument that stands near the Copland 
burying-place. It is tabular in form, but having the sides 
all closed in, so as to form an oblong block, and with an 
upright head-piece that has been affixed at a comparatively 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHASL's. 33 

modem date. Though small enough to be easily overlooked 
by visitors, its florid ornamentation needs only to be seen 
to be admired ; but to many an eye its chief attraction 
will be the words upon it : " In Memoriam Eobertus 
Johnston de Keltoun," who, it is further said', as M.P. for 
Dumfries, "Scoticae Libertatis assertor, Unioni fortiter 
opposuit" — that is, asserted the liberty of Scotland by stoutly 
opposing the Union. The last of the Burgh's representatives 
in the Scottish Parliament, Mr. Johnston, was also its 
Provost in 1696, 1698, and 1700-1-2. He voted with John 
Sharpe of Hoddam and the other "barons" (thirty-three in 
all) who vainly attempted to keep their country in the 
position of an independent kingdom; and according to his 
dying wish his anti-Union testimony, quoted above and now 
barely traceable, was engraved upon his tombstone. This 
indomitable " last of the barons " died on the 3d of November 
1715, at the age of 72. On the sides of the monument are 
several shield-like figures cut in high relief, one florid with 
a ship in full sail, another with a heart, crown, and stars ; a 
well executed heraldic escutcheon, with the legend " Appropri 
qua dies,'' ornaments the head-piece ; and on the other side, 
below one of the inscriptions borne by the monument, a 
monogram of the deceased is beautifully engraved. Hugh 
M'Comock, merchant, whose mother was a Johnston, is 
named on the monument, died 21st January, 1800, aged 40 ; 
also, John Eamsay, writer, who married his daughter Chris- 
tina, died 6th February, 1831, aged 54. 

The last of the chief magistrates who lies in this section, 
whom we have to notice, is David Bishop, who is buried 
within a railed enclosure a few yards further east. He 
ruled over the Burgh during a part of the period when the 
Persecution was raging, and, being a good Presbyi^erian, he 
discountenanced the cruel proceedings of Claverhouse in the 
district. To all genuine archaeologists the monumental relic 
which treasures' his memory is full of interest. The following 
inscription is cut in relief along the margin : 

** Here lyes David Bishop, late Provist of Drumfries. who departed 
this present life the 7 day of October an. do. 1679 ; Erect by Jannet 
Cunningham, his spouse.'* 

C 



34 MEMORIALS OF ST. UICHASL's. 

Emblems of mortality figure on the face of the monument, 
with the addition of the sexton's arms — a, shovel and spade ; 
over which group are the warning words " Memento Mori," 
and below it, in modem letters, the name "A. Mitchelson.*' 

This venerable stone is overlooked by one of the finest 
modem monuments to bie seen in this old part of the 
burying-ground. It commemorates one of Provost Bishop's 
descendants, Andrew Mitchelson, dyer, obiit 16th January 
1820, aged 72, his wife Helen Grierson, and children, includ- 
ing William Mitchelson of the Bemgal Medical Staff, died 27th 
March, 1866, aged 68. It is in the form of a canopy, 
with columns of light brown granite supporting a marble 
tablet, over which hangs the mask of Hope— personify- 
ing the undying emotion which remains to solace those 
who mourn for their dead, and without which life would 
become a burden. 

** Cease every joy to glimmer on my mind ; 
But leave, O leave, the light of hope behind." 

** Eternal Hope . . . 
When wrapt in flames the clouds of etber glow, 
And heaven's last thunder shakes the world below, 
Thou, undismayed, shalt o'er the ruins smile, 
And Ught thy torch at Nature's funeral pile." 

Another member of the same family, John Mitchelson, 
died 31st August 1708, aged 50, sleeps near by ; and as he 
was a merchant, we shall begin our survey of the monuments 
to his class with a notice of the one by which he is held in 
remembrance. It is an old thrugh, which was doubtless 
deemed a model one when new. Below the name and date 
appears a vigorous versified inscription, reminding one of 
John Bunyan's poetical style ; which is followed up by a still 
more vigorous, though imcouth, display of those grim 
emblems of mortality, surmounted by the inevitable winged 
cherub, which were so largely drawn upon by the monu- 
mental sculptors of that period. The epitaph runs thus : 

'* If grace, good manners, gifts of mind. 
Yea where all moral virtues have combined, 
Oompleat a man, behold beneath this stone 
Here lyes interrd, whom rich and poor bemoan. 
He run his race, abundant entrance got, 
His name is savori, and shall not rot." 



UEMORIALS OF ST. inCHAEL'& 35 

Neighbouring stones commemorate Alexander Mitcbelson 
of Carcrogo, died 30th March 1789, aged 51 ; Margaret 
Leckie, spouse of James Mitchelson, died January 14th 1781, 
aged 85, and their daught^ Margaret. 

One merchant's memorial takes us back to the times of 
Charles II. It covers the dust of John Brown, who died 2d 
February 1666 — ^the year of the Pentland rising, when Dum- 
fries waa occupied by " rebel " Covenanters. On the same stone 
appear the name of Samuel Affleck, mason, died 28th February 
1804, aged 65, and that of his spouse, Agnes Lithgow. More 
modem dates appear on neighbouring stones : William 
Gillison, died 24th May 1700 (age not mentioned) ; James 
Dalgliesh, died 9th May 1733, aged 38 ; and James Car- 
ruthers died 28th March 1784, aged 40 ; the wife of the first 
named, Marion Wilson, and of the second, Margaret Gillison, 
sister of her husband, appearing also on the record. 

An altar stone, which adjoins the Earlston monuments, 
bears the name of Thomas Gordon, wine merchant, with 
the f oUowiBg eulogium : 

** Endowed by nature with an active and vigorous understanding, 
ardent and constant in his attachments, endeared by his affectionate 
temper to his family and friends, and possessing the esteem and con- 
fidence of a numerous and respectable acquaintance, he died on the 
12th of January 1813, aged 47 years." 

His widow, Agnes Kirkpatrick, is named upon the monu- 
ment ; their young daughter Sarah ; also their son William, 
drowned at the age of 17, in the river Whampoo, near 
Canton, when bathing — one of many Dumfries youths who 
have perished prematurely abroad by flood or field. He was 
in the East India Company's service, and it is said of hinri 
that ''he was a young man of the most amiable disposition 
and engaging manners." 

William Kirkpatrick, who figured conspicuously in the 
Pyet-and-Crow contest, to which reference have been already 
made, is commemorated, together with his wife Henrietta, 
by another altar stone. He was one of the four merchant 
burgesses who sided with the Trades in that memorable 
struggle for the Dimifries provostship; and for the part he 



36 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

took in it he was sentenced, by the High Court of Justiciary 
to pay a fine of 900 merks. He is mentioned in the in- 
scription as "formerly of this town, and long one of its 
magistrates," died April 1782, aged 73. 

Thomas Hynd, who died 17th November 1739, aged 
" 79 y, 9 m," not only used the weights and measures behind 
his counter, but bore the figurative scales of justice as a 
bailie. Agnes Edgar, his spouse; and John Hynd, of 
Drumcoltran, died 1st June 1779, aged 41, are named in the 
same inscription. Another burgess, who in the same way 
sold goods to the lieges and helped tp rule them, is com- 
memorated, in letters of antique spelling, thus : " Here lyes 
John Martin of Kirkland, laite Bailie in this burghe, who 
departed this life upon the first day of July 1714, and of his 
age 56 years." William, his son, also a magistrate, is named 
upon the same stone : died 29th April 1777, aged 61. 

Not a few merchants named Reid figured in Dumfries 
at an early period, and rarely indeed, during the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, was the Town Council without 
some of them, either as ordinary members or as occupants of 
the Bench. Bailie John Eeid, who died 20th May 1700, 
aged 39, married into the Corbet family : he, his wife Isobel, 
with their daughter Marion, who wedded a Glasgow mer- 
chant, William Carlyle, sprung from the old Annandale 
family of that name^ are mentioned upon one stone. We 
find another dedicated to his son John, died 16th August 
1718, aged 30 ; and his daughter Isobel, spouse of John 
Hynd, "clerk to the Commissariot of Dumfries,'* died 8th 
May 1737. 

Several merchants named Clark acquired also high 
municipal rank last century. One of them, John, was 
provost in 1777-8-9 ; another, William, was provpst in 
1786-7-8. On a venerable altar stone we find the names of 
other members of the family : Bailie William Clark, died 4th 
April 1751, aged 83 ; his wife, Elizabeth Callander ; also 
William Clark, sen., writer, died 19th April 1783, aged 72 ; 
Janet Costine, his spouse; WiUiam Clark, jun., writer, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 37 

died 26th January 1783, aged 31 ; Bailie James Clark, died 
27tli December 1783, aged 76 ; and Mary Costine, his spouse. 

During the old feudal times the Jardines were famous in 
both fight and foray, and at a later period we find several of 
the name occupying a good position in a more peaceful 
sphere, as merchants of the Burgh. On an antique altar 
stone, whose border is grimly florid with mortuary emblems, 
we read : " Here lyes Jean Beattie, spouse to William 
Jardine, merchant, who departed this life" 24th January 
1728, aged 45 ; also the said William Jardine, died 26th 
October 1748, aged 83 ; also James Jardine, merchant, died 
22d January 1772,^ aged 43, with Janet Corrie, his spouse. 
Robert Jardine, writer, son of William, lies below another 
stone of similar type, died 14th June 1742, at the early age 
of 26 ; also Robert Jardine, the late proprietor of Cresswell, 
died 11th March, 1840, aged 77, with Janet Thomson, his 
spouse. 

Among the many honoured merchant burgesses of which 
Dumfries could boast during the first half of the current 
century, none stood higher than Mr. Robert Thomson. A 
handsome monument is erected over his remains, the in- 
scription stating that he was born 28th November 1775, and 
died 21st of July, 1848. Not a few of our wholesale and 
retail dealers in the grocery line hereabouts and in other 
towns speak with pride of their former connection with Mr. 
Thomson's establishment. His worth is also commemorated 
by a memorial bust placed in the Observatory — an institution 
which was originated and established chiefly through his 
exertions. He was married first to Joan Murray, next to 
Margaret M^Robert, both of whom are named in the inscrip- 
tion ; as are also, his infant daughter Helen, another daughter 
Barbara Jane, who died at 34, and two sons, William Murray, 
who died at 44, and John Douglas, who lived to be three 
score years and ten. 

Round the word " Hannahfield/' as cut on a stately 
modem monument in the Grecian style that stands further 
south a host of chequered memories is grouped. It is associ- 



38 HEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

ated in the popular mind with the " good old times " when 
the Burgh had a large landed patriniony ; and with the evil 
days of a more recent date when goodly sections of it had to 
be sacrificed in order to maintain the public credit. At what 
time Hannahfield proper ceased to be town's property, we are 
not aware, but the owner of it, Mr. John EEannah, over whose 
ashes this monument is reaped, purchased the less valuable 
affiliated estate of Kingholm, when it and other Burgh herit- 
ages were sold, so recently as 1827. On Kingholm, it need 
scarcely be said, the Trades used to compete for the Silver 
Gun, the donation of James YI., but the British Solomon did 
not as is pretty generally supposed give the Merse itself to 
either the Burgh or the Trades. If " bowls roll right," the 
best share of both Hannahfield and Kingholm will again 
accrue to Dumfries. When the above Mr. John Hannah, who 
amassed a fortune in the West Indies, departed this life in 
his 80th year, on the 20th of July 1841, he was succeeded 
by his nephew, Mr. John Wood, who left no issue by 
his wife when he died on the 11th of June, 1859 ; and 
as Mrs. Wood died intestate, and without heirs, 8th 
December, 1869, aged 69, the property lapsed to the 
Crown. A memorial from the Town Council praying King 
James' descendant, Queen Victoria, to re-grant the alienated 
estates was graciously entertained ; the Lords of the Treasury 
acting for her Majesty having drawn up a deed of gift vest- 
ing them in the Magistrates of the Burgh and the Sheriffs of 
the County, in order that a public park for Dumfries may be 
made and maintained therefrom, and the residue be used for 
promoting high class education in Dumfriesshire and GaUo- 
way. On the 20th of March 1873, when good tidings to this 
eJBfect were received, the town bells were set-a-ringing ; but 
their rejoicing music was premature, as the scheme has 
somehow gone " aglee," like many others ingeniously laid by 
^'baith mice and men"; though that it will come all right 
in the end there is still some reason to believe. 

The monument commemorates also the parents of John 
Hannah — ^Robert Hannah and Agnes Blount, the former of 
whom died 17th September, 1799, aged 74 ; also their other 



HISMOBIALB OF ST. MICHABL's. 39 

children^ Agnes^ Helen, and Bobert, the latter of whom died 
in infancy. 

On several tabular stones we find the following names of 
other merchants : William Ciirrie, died 16th January 1784, 
aged 30; James Brown, died 6th April 1806, aged 49, with 
Elizabeth M'KinneU, his wife ; Thomas Fergusson, died 10th 
October 1832, a^ed 54, with Jean Young, his wife ; Charles 
Hannah, vintner, died 13th November 1781, aged 58 ; 
Matthew Palmer, died 18th October 1767, aged 80, with 
Mary Gordon, his wife, and members of their family, in- 
cluding Bobert, who died at 51, James, a bookbinder, who 
died at 22; and Charles Hannah, vintner, died 13th 
November 1781, aged 58. A neat headstone commemorates 
Thomas Dobbie, innkeeper, died 2d January 1855, aged 64 ; 
his daughter Jessie, wife of Thomas G. Bobison, merchant, 
Liverpool ; and other children, including Edward Dobbie of 
the Inland Bevenue, died 24th October 1864, aged 28. 

Some members of the learned professions are buried in 
this section. Near the Earlston altar-stones may be seen a 
gracefully shaped freestone block, bearing the name of the 
Bev. James Gordon Ferrier, who was unfortunately drowned 
12th August 1873. He was the eldest son of the late Mr. 
Walter Ferrier, W.S., Edinburgh. 

Solid-looking and stately rises the Bambarroch monu- 
ment near by, " sacred to the memory ** of Bobert Threshie, 
who died on the 26th July, 1836, aged 72 ; of his spouse, 
Mary Currie ; their daughter, Helen Goldie ; and their 
sons, Major Cairns Threshie, who died in his early 
prime at Peshawur, India, and Bobert Threshie of Bam- 
barroch and Mouswald Place, who died on the 4th of 
March 1860, in his 65th year. The elder Mr. Threshie was 
bom in humble circumstances ; but being naturally plodding, 
aspiring, and of more than average ability, he achieved a 
high position, rising alike in opulence and social rank. From 
being a lawyer's apprentice he became Clerk to the Dum- 
friesshire Commissioners of Supply, Commissary Clerk, and 
Postmaster. With the fruits of his industry and success^ he 



40 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

built in George Street the finest mansion of which the Burgh 
at that time could boast^ and purchased the valuable estate 
of Bambarroch, in the Stewartry, the latter of which he trans- 
mitted to his eldest son. The latter gentleman ako succeeded 
to several of his father's professional appointments, and more 
than maintained the position he inherited. As Clerk of the 
Dumfries Commissioners of Supply, Eoad Trustees, and Nith 
Commissioners^ as agent for the Bank of Scotland, and as 
the head of a leading legal firm, Mr. Eobert Threshie, jim., 
had a wide and varied field for the exercise of the excellent 
business qualities which he possessed. He was intimately 
conversant with County matters, and in his official manage- 
ment of them displayed admirable tact and skill. 

Southward rises a stately Grecian edifice, which bears to 
have been erected by Provost David Armstrong, "the last 
surviving member of a much attached family,'' who himself 
died about sixteen years after the latest date in the in- 
scription. The various members of the vanished household 
are thus recorded : John Armstrong, writer, one of the Town 
Clerks of Dumfries, died 10th May 1808, aged 43 ; Jean 
Blackstock, his spouse ; their children, George, George, Jane 
M'Millan, cut off when young ; Janet, who ' died at 18 ; 
Agnes, at 23 ; Charles, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, at 32, 
in January 1832 ; and John, who, like his father, was a 
solicitor, dying at the same age as Charles, 1st March, 1837. 

"While some of the monuments we meet with seem 
burdened by an excess of eulogy, the one next arrived at, 
a graceful cross-surmounted edifice, is singularly unique in 
its silence and simplicity. The inscription, which we sub- 
join, embodies no compliments, though the first name it 
bears is that of a very worthy gentleman, by profession a 
writer, who died about fifty years since ; and it is also devoid 
of dates. 

"In memory of David Newall, Esq., who, with his mother, Ann 
Ewart, and his wife, Margaret Bae, with ten of their children, David, 
Anna, Anna Campbell, Adam, Catherine (Mrs. Babington), James, 
William, Margaret, Marion, and John, lie buried here.'* 

Adam Newall, named above, was long a successful wine- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 41 

merchant at Bourdeaux^ and spent his closing years in Dum- 
frieS; where he was much respected. 

Westward^ near the Hannahfield monument^ we find a 
table-stone bearing the following classical inscription : 

"Parentis sui optimi 
qui per multos annos in hao urbe 

artem medicam 
humaniter ae feliciter exercebat 
qui probitate ac acquitate animi 
morainque facilitate 

omnibus acceptus 

amicis percarus rixit 

et decessit desideratns 

6to Decern. 1763, annos 63 natus, 

hoc monumentum posnit 

Johannes Gordon/' 

The epitaph may be thus translated : 

Erected by John Grordon, in memory of his most excellent father, 
who for many years humanely and successfully practised the medical 
profession in this town. Distinguished by probity, equanimity, and 
courtesy, he lived esteemed by all and beloved by his friends ; and 
died lamented, 6th December 1763, aged 63 years. 

Another medical gentleman, William Hepburn, son of 
Provost Hepburn probably, lies below a similar stone further 
south. He practised in Jamaica, and died at Dalscairth 30th 
May, 1775, aged 63. 

The burial-place of a family named Blount, who were 
farmers in Dalscone for several generations, is covered by a 
tabular erection, commemorating Samuel Blount, died 3d 
March 1796, aged 74; his wife, Janet Gibson; their 
daughter Agnes ; and their sons David and George, the latter 
of whom was, like his father, tenant of Dalscone, and died 5th 
December 1825, aged 72. In 1721 their churchyard land- 
mark was violently taken away by Deacon Broadfoot and 
William Moffat, shoemakers, upon which the Session, who in 
these days exercised an undisputed lordship over the whole 
ground, interfered, and finding that the appropriated tomb- 
stone belonged of right to the Blounts, ordained the removers 
of it to replace it "on the same room they took it off."* 

* Kirk-Session Minutes. 




between the western wall and the footpath eastward 

(continued). 

JHE same section of St. Michael's which gives sleeping- 
room to so many merchant councillors and magistrates 
supplies a resting place to several trade conveners 
and deacons of note who had seats beside them in the local 
parliament. Among these burgh craftsmen the Primroses, 
whose burial-jground lies near the churchy direct north from 
the Duchra obelisk, occupied an honourable position. 
Visions of the Blue Blanket, of the Siller Gun, and of the 
other paraphernalia associated with the famous Incorporated 
Seven rise up to fancy's eye, and the cry "A Lorebum" 
rings in fancy's ear, as we read, on one stately monument 
erected here, of "James Primrose, tanner. Convener of the 
Seven Incorporated Trades," who died on the 17th of 
December, 1838, aged four score and four years. The 
deceased gentleman was in his early prime when Bums 
was made a freeman of the town, and while he was bom far 
enough back to see the old Trade, system in all its glory, he 
lived long enough to witness its decline, fall, and extinction, 
the final stroke being given to it four years prior to the 
worthy Convener's own demise. His spouse, Isabella Cuth- 
bertson, and nine of their offspring are also named upon the 
monument, including Margaret, who died at 23 ; James, at 
34 ; Robert, a currier, died 29th Oct. 1847, at 60, and 
William, a tanner, died 2d January 1851, at 58 ; also the 
spouse of the latter, Sarah Martin. Two table-stones in front 
bear the names of other members of the family ; and a third 
stone of the same form situated near the Duchra monument is 
dedicated to Samuel Primrose, died 1st April, 1828, aged 70, 
who like his brother James had the honour of being Convener 
of the Crafts; in which capacity he presided at a great 
festive gathering when the Trades Hall was opened 4th June, 
1806. His wife Margaret Grordon, and other relatives, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 43 

inclxiding theii* son, Peter FrimroBe, writer, a gentleman of 
poetical fancy and literary taste, who died 23d December, 
1826, aged 30, are also named in the inscription. 

Below a venerable table-stone lies Charles Telfair, the 
first Deacon of the Tailors of whom we have yet had 
trace ; but many more who bore similar rank in the same 
craft have worn their last soit when mouldering to dust in 
other portions of the burial-ground. When Deacon Telfair 
plied needle and thread, the tradesmen over whom he bore 
rule numbered about 86, of whom 46 were freemen, the 
others being journeymen and apprentices. He died 19th 
March 1759, at the advanced age of 87. His wife, Isobel 
Allan, is also named in the inscription. 

On another altar-stone, westward, appears the name of 
Kinloch Winlaw, squareman, who attained to still higher 
rank as a craftsman, he having been Convener of all the 
Seven Trades, in which capacity he led them forth, on 4th 
June 1802, when they numbered about 750 members in the 
aggregate, to compete for the Silver Gun. Three infant 
children — Samuel, George, and Elizabeth — bom to him by 
his spouse, Agnes Corson, are named upon the inscription; 
also Sarah, of whom it is said '' her dutiful affection to her 
parents greatly endeared her to all her friends f but it does 
not record the death of the parent pair. 

The tombstone of yet another respected chief of the Crafts- 
men remains to be noticed — Convener Hugh M'Naught, died 
31st October 1814, aged 62. He lies below an adjoining 
tabular monument, which also commemorates Elizabeth 
Heuchan, his spouse ; their son John, a surgeon, died 20th 
Febniary 1808, aged 28 ; another son John, died 5th October 
1820, aged 40 ; Margaret, their daughter ; and her husband, 
William Coltart, originally a millwright and afterwards 
manager of the Dumfries Gas-works, a man of intelligence 
and worth, died 13th October 1865, aged 83. 

A humble table-stone near by unfolds a wonderful tale of 
wedded life, lasting over three score years and ten, yet as 
happy as it was protracted. We rather think that if ail the 



44 UEHORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL's. 

burial-grounds of Scotland were searched through no parallel 
to the case recorded in these lines would be forthcoming : 

** In memory of Francis Mitchell, late Deacon of the Incorporation 
of Shoemakers, who died 19th September, 1801 , aged 89 years. Also 
Agnes Thomson, his spouse, who died 3lBt July, 1801, aged 85 years. 
They lived a Christian and happie life together in a married state 70 
years, the whole of which was marked with true piety and Christian 
fortitude well worthy of imitation." 

Vainly we regret that little more is known of this venerable 
pair and their unprecedented lease of connubial felicity than 
these lines disclose. The husband, who was a three-year-old 
boy when the Jacobites threatened Dumfries in the '15, must 
have been fourteen years a Benedict when the Pretender occu- 
pied it in the '45, and he must then have been a man of means, 
as he was able to contribute £1 4s 6d to the Jacobite levy ; 
while at the latter date the lady must have been, still in the 
blush of early womanhood, with more than half a century of 
wedded life and love casting its sunshine before. Possibly 
enough the young hero of the tablet was her father's ap- 
prentice, residing as such in the same house, with frequent 
opportunities of wooing the daughter, and ready to ask for 
her fair hand as soon as he had served out his time ; then 
receiving with her the freemanship to which he was entitled 
by having a freeman for his father-in-law ; next beginning 
business for himself ; and eventually becoming the respected 
Deacon of his craft, with the superadded dignity of thereby 
getting a seat at the Town Council board. Whatever his 
antefbedents were, he reached an honourable position — due 
very much, we can conceive, to the virtues of his spouse, 
who, by rendering his home-life comfortable, enabled him 
better to battle with outside cares. Did they, we wonder, 
keep their Silver Wedding in 1756 or their Golden Wedding 
after the lapse of other five-and-twenty years ? In a beauti- 
ful modem poem, entitled "The Diamond Wedding,"* the 
authoress makes the married pair of her fanciful tale 
celebrate under that title the sixtieth anniversary of their 
marriage. She durst not, with all the poetical license that 
is allowable, extend the connubial period over more than 

* By Mrs Newton Crosland. London : Houlston & Sons. 1871- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 45 

three-score years ; but, as one of the romances of real life 
with which our local annals abound, here we find husband 
and wife dwelling together, and that happily, for seventy 
years ! Francis Mitchell and his " Spouse Nancy " would 
doubtless have their uphill difficulties, requiring the exercise 
of the " Christian fortitude " mentioned in the epitaph ; and 
we can easily conceive them, when getting frail with age, 
realising the fine sentiment of the song which represents the 
" auld gudewife " saying to her still uxorious partner, 

** John Anderson, my jo, John. 

We've clamb the hill together, 
And monv hapjpy days, John, 

We've had wi' ane anither. 
Noo we maun toddle doun, John, 

And hand in hand well go ; 
But we'll sleep together at the foot, 

John Anderson, my jo !'* 

James Mitchell, a son of the venerable couple, died 1817, aged 
51 ; and Elizabeth Dingwall, his wife, are also named in the 
inscription. 

Near the above, we find a diminutive headstone, of date 
1702, that is quite a curiosity in its way. Throughout the 
entire grounds there is no more grotesque sculpture-work 
than that with which it is adorned, representing as it does a 
chubby-faced, woe-begone cherub, with wings springing from 
its sonsie neck, and having another pair curving downwards, 
so as to enclose a sand-glass, also on the wing ; while below 
there is a nondescript image — a sort of embryo angel, scarcely 
half -developed ; and, by way of supporters, a doll-like figure 
stands on each side, looking very doleful indeed. But as the 
grief expressed by the rueful group was in all likelihood 
sincerely felt by the widow who raised the stone, we check 
the tendency to smile as we read the antique lettering which 
tells that " the corps of William Murhead, gunsmith, burgess 
of lenrick, who died 1702, aged 31, lyeth" below, and that 
the stone is a tribute to him from " Isobel Lukup his spus.'** 

* May 27, 1703. — "The Session granted libertie to Isobel Lukoup, 
relict of the deceast William Muirhead, smith in Bridge-end, to erect 
a gravestone at the head of her husband's grave ; Deacon Johnstoun, 
within whose burial-place he lyes, consenting to the same." — Kirk 
Sestion Minutes. 



1 



46 H1SM0RIALS OF ST. HIGHABL'S. 

The name Isabella Carruthers, which we notice on a 
neighbouring headstone, recalls that of her accomplished 
brother, Dr. Bobert Camithers, well known in connection 
with the Inverness Courier and numerous able literary pro- 
ductions. She died 5th May, 1870, aged 73. Her husbands 
Thomas M^Noe, hosier, a worthy man, predeceased her 2l8t 
March, 1851, aged 62. The stone erected to their memory 
bears also the name of his first wife, Maiy M'Caa ; the names 
of four of their children and three of Mr. M'Noe's grand- 
children — ^the offspring of Mr. Gumming, clothier, all of whom 
died young. 

On a plain simple stone we read words of consolation, hope, 
and faith, supposed to be addressed by Ann Bums, the 
tenant of the tomb below, to her husband, Sergeant James 
Wemyss, of the 6th Dragoons. 

" Grieve not for me, mv sand ia run. 
The Lord has called, his will he done ; 
When Christ appears I shall arise 
Unto that life that never dies.** 

Sergeant Wemyss, who outlived his wife twelve years, died 
7th October 1832, aged 52 ; and of him it is said in the in- 
scription : " He was an affectionate husband, a kind and 
sincere friend, and was much respected by all who knew 
him." 

The name of Mein appears frequently in the Burgh records, 
chiefly with reference to building operations. Andrew Mein 
was one of the contractors for erecting the New Church in 
1724; while William Mein, mason, probably his father, is 
mentioned in the Kirk Session Minutes as applying for a 
grave-plot in St. Michael's on 24th March, 1709. His petition 
sets forth that he had discovered a suitable spot of ground 
'^ adjacent to John Smith, late Dean, his buriall place, belong- 
ing to no one," but occupied by a great root of a tree which 
he was willing to dig out, if his request were complied with. 
His petition was answered in the affirmative, the Session 
granting Mr Mein and his heirs " full power to break up and 
bury in the said buriall-place as others do in the churchyard, 
and to erect two gravestones on the same at his pleasure." 
A stone stands near the south-west comer which com* 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHABL's. 47 

memorates William Mein, landwaiter (in all likelihood a 
descendant of the petitioner)^ who died 12th August, 1776, 
aged 69, his wife Helen Bell, George their son, who died at 
the age of 62 ; Nathaniel Locke, who married Isobel, daughter 
of William Mein, died at 82, Helen their daughter died at 
73, and other relatives. A flat slab northward commemo- 
rates David Mien, slater, died 11th August, 1770, aged 65 ; 
his spouse Elizabeth, with other members of the family. It 
may be proper to notice here that in a different section, near 
the entrance to the Cemetery, appears a diminutive head- 
stone, inscribed with the name of '^ William Mein, mason, 
late Deacon of the Squaremen,'* died 19th February, 1745, 
aged 87, whose remains, it may be assumed, lie where the 
" great I'oot " grew that is above referred to. 

Near the same south-west corner the memory of Charles 
^^SSf nurseryman at Hillowton, and of his wife Mary 
Grindall, is kept from decay by a neat erection; he died 
at the ripe age of 78. . 

On a tombstone which commemorates John Dinwiddie 
cabinetmaker, died 2d March, 1826, aged 50, and his wife 
Janet Hunter, appears also the name of Sarah Dickson, with 
the intimation that she was "wife of James Dinwiddie* 
teacher of English in Dumfries upwards of fifty-two years." 
Whether the venerable dominie when let loose from the 
school of life to enter on the long vacation of the grave found 
a resting-place beside his spouse is not recorded. She died 
5th May, 1803, aged 73. 

A stately monument commemorates Eobert Wright, a 
respectable tradesman, whose occupation, that of providing 
the " staff of life," sounds strangely in this region of the dead. 
He died 13th August 1822, aged 38. His daughter Nicholas, 
wife of Charles Wake, who died at Birmingham 12th Sep- 
tember 1866, aged 53 ; and his son Eobert, who died at the 
same place three days afterwards, aged 48, are also mentioned 
in the inscription. A table stone within the same enclosure 
bears the names of several relatives of Mr. Wright through 
his wife, Margaret Eichardson : John Howat, died April 4th 



48 ICEMOBIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

1791, aged 67, one of the old wig-makers who flourished at 
a time when it was the fashion for men as well as the softer 
sex to make themselves profusely hirsute by means of other 
people's hair ; Agnes, his spouse ; Wellwood Maxwell, William 
Laidlaw, James Aitken, and "Winnifred, young children of 
John Eichardson ; also Nicholas and John, children of Bobert 
Wright, baker; the above John Eichardson, died 11th 
November 1835, and his spouse, Nicholas, daughter of 
the wig-maker, John Howat. 

The most noted of the Eichardson family, some members 
of which lie in another section of the ground, was 
the one just mentioned, John Eichardson. For nearly 
forty years he held the post of principal sheriff-officer 
in Dumfriesshire. Naturally shrewd, sagacious, and self- 
reliant, he was a ^man of much general intelligence ; and 
though to a great extent self-educated, he was well ac- 
quainted with the forms of Scottish law, and would have made 
a capital legal agent had he been trained in that capacity. 
With matters of pedigree relating to our old County families 
he was quite conversant ; his genealogical lore embracing also 
the generations with which he was contemporary— high and 
low, rich and poor. One of his greatest professional achieve- 
ments was the apprehension of David Haggart, who, some 
months after he had murdered the Dumfries prison turnkey 
Moriue, was captured by Mr. Eichardson in the north of 
Ireland, and identified by him through all the ingenious 
disguises of dress, manner, and language which the guilty 
fugitive had assumed. " Of evil-doers," says Mr. M'Diarmid 
when noticing Mr. Eichardson's death in the Courier , "he 
was by far the greatest terror that has existed in Dumfries 
in our day ; his powers of observation were so acute, and his 
memory so tenacious, that it was often said of him that he 
never saw a face, even for a moment, that he could not dis- 
tinctly recognise again. Perhaps no man that ever existed 
possessed in greater perfection the talent — ^for it is one— of 
diving into char«acter under every disguise ; and such were 
his industry in preventing crime, and quick-sightedneas in 
ensuring its detection that, after the final apprehension of 



MSUORIALS OF ST. MICHAJSL^d. 49 

Haggart and dispersion of the accomplished gang that so 
long infested our fairs and markets, it became a common 
saying among the whole thieving and thimble-rig tribe, 
* Well gang nae mair to yon town' — of itself a high, though 
left-handed, compliment to the memory of our townsman/ 
The same genial writer states that John Bichardson " had a 
heart as well as head,'' there being experienced by him a 
constant struggle " between a stem sense of duty and some- 
thing akin to woman's softness." He was withal a good 
talker, a hearty convivialist, who ''many a time and oft set 
the table in a roar." Not only was the deceased a famous 
practical enforcer of " The Hue and Cry :" he was also an 
Lpt in the art whose cry is "Going, ^mg, gone f and for 
a long period he was recognised as the most dexterous auc- 
tioneer throughout the south of Scotland. "For weeks 
before Whitsunday and Martinmas," says the Cov/rier, " and 
at other periods, his hands were constantly full of work ; 
and, considering the fatigue he occasionally underwent, the 
peculiarity of his temperament, and the freedom of his 
habits, it is to us matter of astonishment that he should 
have reached the ripe age of 67 years. From long ex- 
perience, he knew the value of almost every article of 
furniture, from a porringer up to a fashionable mirror, and 
possessed such a flow of animal spirits, intermingled with 
sallies of wit and humour, that he made the most saturnine 
smile or laugh in spite of themselves. Apart from ordinary 
sales, roups of bankrupt and farm stock, the deceased sold 
in his day hundreds of properties and fair estates, and our 
opinion is that many millions of money were turned over 
from first to last by the instrumentality of his sand-glass 
and hammer. It was Mr. Bichardson who managed the 
sale of the effects of the late Mrs. Burns ; on that occasion 
he was in excellent spirits, and, on sight of v^ous 
articles that stirred his memory, introduced many striking 
anecdotes ; nor shall we readily forget his expression of 
countenance when, after a keen competition, the Poet's 
eight-day clock was assigned to our friend Mr. Armour, he 
ejaculated ' Only forty pounds P " 



50 ItEHOBJAUi OF ST. MICHABL's. 

Behind the Wright monament there is a table-stone com- 
memoratiiig Bobert Bichardeon^ fanner, Nether Dargavel, 
died 22d November 1802, aged 58; his son David, who 
occupied the same farm, died 26th March 1852, aged 85 ; 
and the spouse of the latter, Martha TumbulL 

Westward a little there are two tombstones, one raised 
in memory of Jane M'Clure, wife of John Bichardson, 
shoemaker, died 4th July 1846, aged 38, and three of their 
infant children ; two young sailor sons, both lost at sea, 
being named on the other : William, who perished in the 
spring of 1859, and Bobert, two years afterwards. On a neat 
headstone southward we find trace of a related family, that 
of William Bonald, baker, died 24th November 1858, aged 
64; his wife, Winifred Bichardson, with two infant 
children and their son William, are also named in the in- 
scription. The latter, when captain of the Lord Althorpe, 
also fell a victim to the remorseless waves in 1859, at the 
age of 32. In view of such catastrophes, the Christian 
mourner can say to the devouring deep : 

** To thee the love of woman hath gone down ; 
Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head, 
O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flowery crown I 

Yet must thou h*ar a voice — ** Restore the dead ! 
Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee 1 
Restore tne dead, thou Sea !" 

On the other side of the Bonald monument we read of 
William Bichardson, shoemaker, '^ an affectionate father and 
generous friend," died 28th February 1838, aged 65 ; of his 
spouse, Sarah Kerr, " in life respected and in death regretted;'* 
of their young daughter, Sarah ; and of their sou, William 
Bichardson, M.D., died at Berbice 15th March, 1850, aged 55. 

It was on the 21st of December 1745 that Prince Charles, 
commonly called the Preteuder, paid that memorable visit to 
Dumfries, on his forlorn return from Derby, which has already 
been referred to in these pages. He could still number many 
gallant followers ; but his retinue, it appears, did not include 
a valet or other attendant capable of shaving the royal 
visage. " Does this Whig Burgh boast of having a barber ?" 
the Prince asked, or is supposed to have asked^ as, travel- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 51 

stained and wearj^ he sat in Mr. Bichard Lowthian's house, 
the precise apartment being what is now No. 7 of the 
Commercial Hotel. The question led to an inquiry^ the 
result of which was that Mr. John Gas^ wig-maker and 
shaver^ who occupied a shop in the leading thoroughfare^ was 
brought to the Prince's residence, that he might operate with 
razor and soap on the beard of his Boyal Highness. What 
the honest barber's feelings were whilst thus, in a more than 
ordinary way, brought face to face with " Bonnie Charlie,*' 
and while the head for which the Government soon after- 
wards offered ^30,000 was placed in his temporary keeping, 
is not recorded; nor are we told whether the Prince paid 
him for his services with money, or simply recognised them 
with thanks; but this we know, that Mr. Gas was ever 
after fond of relating this remarkable episode in his pro- 
fessional history, and used to affirm, by way of climax, that 
he had done what no other man dared to do, had "taken 
Prince Charlie by the nose." The hero of this feat was in 
other respects a remarkable character. For upwards of 
half a century he plied his double* vocation in Dumfries, 
during most of which period his little shop was a favourite 
resort of the better class of burgesses and the neighbouring 
gentry, by whom he was recognised as a sort of oracle, on 
account of his conversational powers and the seemingly in- 
exhaustible fund of legend and anecdote which he could at 
all times draw upon. 

The worthy barber is made to figure conspicuously in John 
Mayne's famous poem, " The Siller Gun," which describes the 
shooting for King James's token by the Trades; on the 4th of 
June, 1777. He is represented as one of the admiring on- 
lookers, and as an authority who was appealed to when infor- 
mation was needed about the chiefs of the pageant in past and 
present times. 

'* Amang the crowd was Johny Gas, 
Kend thro' the town hj lad and lass ; 
Bevered aboon the common class, 

Up late and air ; 
John had seen saxty simmers pass, 

A barber there. 



52 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

The chronicle o' former years, 

At him ilk ane some question speers ; 

But when they spoke of auld forebears 

Now dead and gane, 
John only answered wi' his tears, 
Or made a maen/^ 

''His simplicity of manners/' says Mr. Mayne, who 
knew him well, ^'sinc^e piety, and imdeviating in- 
tegrity during a long, industrious, and active life, excited 
universal esteem and respect ; while hi^ vivid recollection of 
past events, together with the peculiar naivet6 and shrewd- 
ness of his remarks, with a certain eccentricity of character, 
made his conversation interesting as weU as highly enter- 
taining/'* John Gas lived to be nearly ninety years of 
age; and when his little cabin in High Street lost its 
genius loci, his remains were laid in a much smaller tene- 
ment, the tomb by which we now stand, and which is 
covered by an altar-stone bearing various names, as follow : 
First, that of his spouse Janet, died 17th March 1761, aged 
39 ; then that of the worthy wig-maker himself, died 10th 
March 1811, "in the 90 year of his age ;" two of their sons, 
"William and John, who died young, are next mentioned ; 
then their grandson, James Hope, who followed his grand- 
father's business, with this difference, that wig-making 
having become antiquated, he was termed "hair-dresser 
and perfumer," died 23d August 1828, aged 53 ; and finally, 
the wife of the latter, Mary Drummond. An adjoining 
table-stone commemorates Andrew M'Lellan, flax-dresser, 
died 21st January 1809, aged 37 ; Janet Hope, his wife ; 
and Janet BaUantine, their niece, died 13th March 1847, 
aged 40. 

On one of two family table-stones we read the name of 
John M'Kie, who occupied a good position as a bookseller 

* John was a pedestrian in his time, and thought very little of & 
journey to Edinhurgh in one day — a distance of not less than seventy 
miles. Cold, hot, wet or dry, he seldom wore a hat in his visits to 
his customers ; and such was the force of habit that, being sent for 
to Moffat upon particular business, he walked thither, a journey of 
twenty -four miles, bareheaded. When asked by a gentleman what 
had become of his hat, **Hat, hat, sir?" said John, ***pon my word, 
sir, I have forgot it V'—Note to SiUer Gun, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGBAXL's. 53 

and waa deservedly much esteemed : he was for several 
years also Treasurer of the Burgh. Hq died 31si December 
1841, aged 35 ; the inscription further stating that ^'in life 
he was highly respected, and his death is deeply regretted." 
John Frood, tailor, his maternal grandfather, died 10th May 
1812, aged 59. His name upon the record is followed by that of 
his spouse, Janet Grierson ; the rest of the death-list being as 
follows : William, their sod, who died at 21 ; John, another 
son, and Ann, a granddaughter, who died in childhood ; 
Nathaniel M'Kie, tailor, died 30th November 1843, aged 66 ; 
his wife Agnes, daughter of John Frood ; their sons, James, 
a clerk, died 6th January 1830, aged 19 ; and David, a 
draper, died 31st of October 1844, aged 33. 

Handsome monumental erections appear also in this section 
in honour of the following : — ^Robert AJ3ieck, mason, died 16th 
December 1839, aged 70 ; his spouse, Helen Thomson ; their 
son, Bobert, a cabinetmaker, died 11th December 1823, aged 
21. John Hobbs Crocket, plasterer, died 27th January 1863, 
aged 54. Isabella Bennet Lennox, wife of George Dunbar, 
junior, died 5th May, 1870, aged 35. John Herries, joiner, 
Dumfries, died 9th August, 1840, aged 65 ; Janet HuDter, 
his spouse, with their oflfepring, Agnes died at 24, Janet at 
17, two others who were cut off in childhood, and Robert, 
also a joiner and Dean of Guild, died 26th August 1866, 
aged 58, with three of his youthful children. James Hutch- 
inson, architect, died 16th May 1801, aged 50 ; and his wife, 
Grace Milroy. Intermingled with these, stones of a simpler 
form are seen, commemorating James Kerr, auctioneer, 
died of cholera, when it was raging in Dumfries, 30th 
September 1832, with his spouse, Janet Smith ; Bobert 
Anderson, surveyor of taxes, died 2d September 1825, with 
Mary Wallace, his wife, and John, their son, died at Rio 
de Janeiro, 15th May 1842, aged 53 ; Gilbert Paterson, 
died 21st April 1774, aged 56, with his wife, Marjory 
Malcolm (sister, probably, of Archibald Malcolm, Town- 
Clerk) ; Helen Dinwiddie, wife of James Wightman, farmer, 
died 27th September, 1832, aged 51 ; two John Huttons, 
father and son, the former died 12th February 1807, aged 66, 



54 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

the latter 7th October 1818, aged 47 ; John Borland, mason, 
died 6th November 1814, aged 52, with his two wives, 
Margaret M'EIaig and Sarah Napier. 

To Agnes M^Bumie, relict of James Grierson of Dalgoner ; 
Thomas Grierson of Larbreck, their son, died 8th May, 1774, 
aged 65 ; and the spouse of the latter, Elizabeth Ward, a 
table tombstone near the Hannahfield monument is devoted, 
which is neighboured by another bearing the name of their 
son, Thomas, died 14th May, 1798, aged 27. The deceased 
were of the same family as the Griersons of Lag, their com- 
mon ancestor having been Gilbert, second son of the Celtic 
thane Malcolm Dominus de Macgregor, who about five hun- 
dred years ago settled in Dumfriesshire. 

An adjacent altar-stone bears the following inscription : — 

"Here lyes the body of Sarah Crockat, daughter of the Rev, 
Mr. John Orockat, late minister of the Gospel at Partoun, and Mary 
Tod, his spouse, who departed this life the 29th day of June, in the 
year MDCCLXI. , age xii. years and viii. days. Fond of knowledge, 
and possessed of it above her years. To patient piety, for which she 
was remarkable, and a sense of religion uncommon at her age, she 
joined a sweetness of temper, and a greatness of soul which justly 
rendered her the delight of her acquaintance and the comfort of her 
mother." 




OKLA.FTER, "V". 
BETWEEN THE FOOTPATH AND THE CHURCH. 

BOSSING the footpath^ we find about sixty tombstones 
,of various kinds between it and the Church, several 
of which merit a brief notice. Here, as in other parts 
of the ground, we meet with the words wig-maker, a trade 
which is as defunct in Dumfries as the many men who pur- 
sued it ninety years ago. One of these ancient peruquiers, 
David Douglas by name, lies buried in a sheltered nook south 
of the Steeple tower, died in May, 1766, aged 59 ; also his spouse 
and son, Alexander Douglas, merchant, died 15th December, 
1797, aged 55. Thomas Watson, stone-cutter, who, like 
his surviving son of the same name and trade, has left his 
masonic mark on many of the surrounding monuments, 
wedded the merchant's .daughter, and he occupies the next 
layer, the stone above shewing that he died on the 18th of 
February 1832, in his 55th year, and that "his relict" de- 
parted this life on the 19th of April 1851, when on the verge 
of 80 years. The father of Mrs. "Watson, in addition to his 
other business, kept a hostelrie in High Street, which Bums 
used to visit both as a customer and professionally, though 
it never became such a favourite "howff" with him as the 
Globe. Mrs. Watson, who distinctly remembered Bums, 
used to tell that on one memorable occasion the poet came to 
the house, on gauging business bent, just after she and the 
servant had been making potato starch, then an interdicted 
trade, in the kitchen. Bums could not help seeing the 
illicit article, as it lay exposed in an ashet on the window- 
sill ; and having learned what it was, he, with a warning 
shake of his head, said, " Lassie, ye sin and fear not : take 
this out of my sight !" 

Four children of the deceased Thomas Watson are also 
named on the monument : Andrew, an infant ; Margaret, wife 
of James Eobison, died at Newark, 26th March, 1840, aged 
33 ; Alexander, a mason, died at Welshpool, in Wales, 31st 



56 XEMORIAI^B OF ST. MICHAXL's. 

March, 1854, aged 49 ; and Maiy, his eldest daughter, died 
5th July, 1868, aged 67. An adjoiDing headstone commemo- 
rates James Bobison and Jessie, children of Thomas Watson, 
both of whom died in their third year. 

On a neighbouring headstone appear the names of Charles 
Little, died 7th March 1839, aged 63 ; and of several of his 
children, including Andrew, who died when 19 at Chusan, 
and Eobert, who died when 34 at XJmballa. 

With another industrial occupation, hat-making, which 
once flourished in Dumfries, but is now almost extinct, the 
name of Balieff was closely identified ; and the family so 
called were among the first to rally round John Wesley when 
the founder of Methodism made a raid upon the Presby- 
terianism of the district in 1788. At the other side of the 
steeple, a flat slab bears in remembrance John BaHeff, first 
of the name, died 20th February, 1800, aged 67, and his 
two wives, Elizabeth Mackill and Dorothea Shirley. This 
stone is overlooked by a neat little obelisk, which records 
the death and recounts the virtues of his son Joseph, who 
died of cholera when that epidemic first visited the town. 

**He was bom (we are told) 14th April 1772 ; and being in early 
age brought to a knowledge of the truth, his subsequent life 
evinced the reality of his conversion to Grod, his integrity and up- 
rightness commanding the esteem of all with whom he was con- 
nected. After a life of devotion to God and active benevolence to 
men, he suddenly finished his course, and exchanged mortality for 
eternal life, on the 2d of October 1832, in the 61st year of his age. 
Qo, Beader, and ponder on the value of that faith in Christ which, 
whilst it deprives death of its stiue and the grave of its victory, 
administers patience and comfort to the bereaved and afflicted." 

This inscription is on the east side. His wife Margaret 
McMillan died 23d August, 1855, aged 76, is named on the 
south side. An inscription on the north side commemorates 
some branches of the parent stem, including Margaret Baliefi*, 
wife of B. J. Minsher, who died at 27 ; Joanna, at 21 ; 
Harriet Hope, at 18 ; Joseph, drowned off New York when 
sailing for America November 21st, 1836, aged 17; and 
Charlotte, wife of Charles D. Porteous, died 10th March, 1842, 
aged 38. Of these it is stated : 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 67 

*' Their dust and niinB that remain 
Are precious in our eyes. 
Those ruins shall be built again, 
And all that dust shall rise." 

The west side bears the name of Mary Irving, spouse of 
John Balieff, the latter for many years a useful citizen and 
magistrate of Dumfries, but now residing in Manchester, 
where his wife died 15th February, 1857, aged 35. 

No glovemaking is now carried on in Dumfries, but for a 
long while it formed one of our staple industries, those who 
wrought at it joining with the Skinners to form a distinct 
corporation. John Woodmass, the last of the old glovers, or 
gauntlers as they were often called, and at one time Deacon 
of his Craft, lies in this section of the Cemetery beneath a 
massive altar-stone, died 4th March 1839, aged 65. His 
spouse, Jean Watt'; Mary Graham and Mary Thomson, 
wives of Hugh "Woodmass ; Nicholas, his daughter, wife of 
Henry Melbourne, grain-dealer, with other relatives, are also 
named upon the monument. 

Alexander Lookup, skinner, once Convener of the Trades, 
and belonging to a family that was long honourably as- 
sociated with the Guilds of the Burgh, lies buried below 
a table-stone adjoining. Obiit 1st April 1808, aged 52. 
Nicholas Fullerton, his wife, is named in the inscription ; 
also several members of their family, including two sea 
captains, James of the Lancaster and Thomas of the China, 
the former dying 4th September 1829, aged 33, the latter 
18th February 1843, aged 49. 

Of at least four others whose "homes were on the deep" 
memorials appear in this section, though it did not afford a 
haven of rest to them all. On a tabular stone raised in 
memory of William Sellars, writer, died 17th June 1787, 
aged 28, we find names of a related family — t^ose of John 
Aitken, died 8th December 1848, aged 53 ; his spouse, Jessie 
Caird ; and their son George, commander of the steamer 
Silloth, died 9th March 1858, aged 38. A small headstone 
rises in memory of Captain John Eodick, " drowned near Bio 
Island, River St. Lawrence, 18th October 1870, by the wreck 



58 MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHAXL's. 

of the brig Thetis of Maryport, in the 60th year of his age, 
and interred at BimouskL" The few survivors of the Latin 
classes taught in our Academy fifty years ago by the late 
Bector Harkness will remember the deceased as a dux among 
the scholars, and as.no less amiable than accomplished. Seas 
between them and him have rolled broad during the inter- 
vening period ; and, a victim of the devouring deep, he lies 
far away from the braes where, as "boys together," they 
"pu'd the gowans fine," in the Auld Lang Syne of 1825. 

A nother headstone bears an interesting record, commemo- 
rating as it does John "Wright, stay-maker, died 20th October 
1796, aged 42 ; Jane M'Lachlan, his spouse, died 16th No- 
vember 1836, aged 76, of whom it is stated "she faithfully 
discharged the duties of matron to the Infirmary upwards 
of 31 years;" and several of their children, among others 
James, surgeon of the Lady Melville, East Indiaman, who 
died at sea; and John, a member of the Eoyal College of 
Surgeons, London, and assistant surgeon of the Cabala, East 
Indiaman, who likewise breathed his last at sea, 7th March 
1817, aged 50. Isabella Lawson, mother-in-law to John 
Wright, is also named in the inscription, with the intimation 
that she officiated ten years as matron of the Infirmary, her 
death taking place 9th June 1795, when she was 69 : as the 
Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary was first opened for 
patients at the close of 1778, Isabella Lawson would probably 
be its first matron. The term stay-maker sounds strange as 
applied to a man, that occupation being usually assigned to 
the gentle sex. This was not the case, however, when John 
Wright flourished, stay-making being at that period a branch 
of tailoring that was guarded with as much jealousy as any 
other portion of the craft. About ninety years ago one 
Elizabeth Knox, residenter, "though noways free with the 
trade," or having any title "to exercise that kind of 
business," was detected in the veiy act of patchiug up an old 
pair of stays, and fined 6s 8d sterling for " the transgression " 
the stays being detained till the money was forthcoming."^ 

* Minutes of Tailors' Incorporation, as quoted in History of Dum- 
friUy second edition, p. 622. 



XEH0RIAL8 OF ST. UICHABL's. 59 

Jean Hay M'Comock, granddaughter of the doughty jmti- 
Union Provost Johnston, is commemorated by an altar-stone, 
died 5th May 1804, aged 41. Her father was Hugh 
M'Comock of Claachrie, and her mother Margaret Johnston, 
both of whom lie beside the Provost in a spot akeady visited, 
together with other members of the family. Another table 
stone in this section rises in memory of William M'Comock, 
writer, died 12th May 1769, age not given ; LUias, his sister, 
who died at 86 ; and Margaret Gowan, died at 36, the spouse 
of Edward Oliver, mariner, whose brother Alexander was 
married to Margaret, daughter of the above Hugh M'Cornock. 

Within a chain-protected plot lie several members of a 
respected family closely related to the Gordons of Earlston. 
The table monument erected to their memory tells of Gilbert 
Gordon of Halleaths, died 21st May 1790, aged 60 ; his 
spouse^ Margaret Stewart; their daughter, Catherine 
Stewart, died 15th July 1822, aged 52 ; and their '^last sur- 
viving daughter,'' Johanna Mounsey, who had reached the 
venerable age of 81, when she died at Lincluden, 6th May 
1854. 

On a tombstone which commemorates Bobert Anderson, 

painter and glazier, who died 24th May, 1792, aged 80, there 

is an inscription which professes to be no epitaph, and is yet 

a very happy effort in that line : 

" They may make epitaphs who can, 
I say here lyes an nonest man." 

The couplet is popularly attributed to Bums. 

To the memory of Jean Broom Wood, first wife of Alex- 
ander Stuart, clothier, Dean of Guild, a very handsome 
monument is devoted ; which bears in remembrance also 
three of their children, Andrew, who died when young, 
Alexander, at the age of 23, and John James, at the age 
of 33. 

Near by an altar-stone rises in memory of William Howat, 
mason, died 8th June 1801, aged 79 ; Mary Broom, his 
spouse ; Andrew, their son, died 24th December 1804, aged 
29 ; also of a worthy veteran, John Gomal, long of the 1st 
Boyal Dragoons, died 9th September 1864, aged 77 ; of John 



60 USMORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL's. 

Pulton, his son-in-law, sergeant in the 2d Battalion of 60th 
Bifles and Scottish Borderers Militia, died 3d September 
1869, aged 44 ; and of Sergeant Fulton's wife, Agnes. 

On other stones of a similar form we read of Bobert 
Mitchell, shoemaker, died 30th April 1854, aged 65, with 
Margaret Dalgliesh, his spouse; of Alexander Boxburgh, 
mason, died 4th December 1816, aged 82, with Catherine 
Hodge, his spouse, and several relations; of John Harris, 
whitesmith, died 15th June 1821, age not mentioned, with 
Agnes Stott, his spouse, and several children. On a neat 
upright stone we find the names of Joseph Wilson, shoemaker, 
died 21st July 1867, aged 73, three of his offspring, who died 
young ; and those of two others, Agnes, died at 34, and Jane 
at 44. Another of a similar kind commemorates Agnes 
Millar, wife of Bobeit Wood, flesher, died 15th January 
1874, aged 42, and two of their children; while on other 
headstones we read of John Hogg, cooper, died 12th Feb- 
ruary 1825, aged 65, Marion Martin, his spouse, and several 
of their offspring; of George Guthrie, ship-carpenter, died 
20th March 1793, aged 73, Margaret Lawson, his wife, and 
several of their children. 

An antique altar-stone commemor^Ltes William Irvine, 
merchant, died 2d June 1718, aged 62 ; his spouse, Agnes 
Wells ; and their daughter, who died at the age of 69. 
Stones of similar type rise in memory of other merchants : 
Adam Clark, died 14th March 1816, aged 38; James Dal- 
gleish died 9 th January 1812, aged 59, with Janet Gourlay, 
his spouse, and several youthful children ; one near the gate 
bearing the names of John Smith, innkeeper, died 20th 
May 1781, aged 39, that of his wife, Margaret Wilkie (a very 
uncommon name in the district), and several of their de- 
scendants. 

Some veiy old slabs are visible here that have been long 
so preyed upon by neglect that their inscriptions have 
vs^nished. Such stti oblivious fate seems destined ere long to 
overtake the memorial of " William Laury of Bamsoul, who 
departed this life upon the 5th day of August, 1742, and of 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 61 

his age 62 years/' "With some difl5culty we find out that he 
was " Town Clerk of Dumfries " — a gentleman of high position, 
whose business it was to make up public records; and yet 
the record of his own name and death is getting dim, and 
may soon disappear. The names of his spouse, Barbara 
Fingas, and of their daughter Isobel, are barely traceable on 
the stone, which at one time told of other children also 
regarding whom it can now say nothing. 

To John Dalyell of Fairgirth, died 4th January 1764, aged 
72, a very stately Grecian structure is devoted. Mary, wife 
of Thomas Bobinson, china merchant, Dumfries, died 29th 
November 1843, aged 48, with two of her children — John, 
who died at 20, and Mary at 29 — ^are also named upon the 
monument. 

Just behind the above rises an altar-stone in memory of 
John Muncie, once Chief of the Incorporated Craftsmen, who 
died 7th November 1792, aged 41. On a similar stone near 
by we notice the name of another Trade official — George 
Smith, Deacon of the Tailors, died 9th October 1823, aged 
66 ;* the inscription mentioning also his wife, Sarah Weir ; 
two of their infant children ; her father, John Weir, died 
19th October 1800 ; his spouse, Mary Johnstone ; and their 
son, James Weir, merchant, died 8th January 1793, aged 32. 
Tet another Deacon of the same Craft, George Bae, lies 
below a slab near the Watsons' monument, with his wife, 
Janet Dickson : he died 23d December 1783, aged 68. A 
similar slab commemorates James Bamsay, tailor, died 21st 
October 1823, aged 43. 

" The graves of a household " are marked by a neat head- 
stone, on Which its members are named, the offspring of John 
Brown of Corrielaw, died 9th June 1861, aged 75, and his 
spouse, Helen Gordon ; both of whom are also commemorated 
by the monument. 

Unbound, but in due time to be done up anew, lies the 
body of Thomas Johnston, bookbinder, above which his 
acquaintances have raised a neat headstone, ^' as a tribute of 



62 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAXL's. 

respect to his memory ;" date of death 17th March 1833, age 
27. The subjoined lines appear as part of the inscription : 

^* Escaped the gloom of mortal life, a soul 

Here leaves its mouldering tenement of clay ; 
Safe where no cares their whelming bUlows roll, 
No doubts bewilder, and no hopes betray." 

Near the entrance gate a veiy neat Grothic monument 
rises in memory of '^ Joseph Gass, Esq./' merchant in aiid 
Provost of the Burgh ; and while it is a fitting memento of a 
respected magistrate, his name and public services are com- 
memorated in a still more complimentary style, as the village 
of Gastown was called after him, on account of his having 
founded it and done much to foster its growth, and thereby 
to increase the revenue of the Burgh, on whose ground it was 
built. He was made Provost in the following year, 1813, and 
died on the 9th of July 1821, aged 77. The names of Marioa 
Morrison and Elizabeth Anderson, wives of Provost Gass, 
appear also on the monument. 

Andrew Bobertson and his son James, who both pursued 
the old trade of wig-making, are commemorated by a table- 
stone near the gate ; the former died 24th October 1765, aged 
69; the latter 28th March 1795, aged 62, The singular 
name of Frances Hearse appears on the stone, as that of 
the spouse of the elder Kobertson. Margaret Douglas 
(probably a daughter of David Douglas, wig-maker) is 
mentioned on it as the wife of the younger one; together 
with another rare appellation, that of Agnes Oldrini, their 
eldest daughter, died in London, 19th July 1827, aged 58, " a 
woman exemplary for her virtues, and beloved by all who 
knew her." 

Close to the entrance gate, a young Nathaniel, James 
Thomson, draper, died 13th February 1838, at the age of 31, 
is commemorated by a handsome monument, the epitaph on 
which reads thus : 

** He truly feared God from his youth. His dispositions were open 
and cheerful, his manners conciliatory, and his unobtrusive piety 
ffave a charm to all his other virtues. He died as he had lived, tick 
in the hope of a blessed immortality through Jesus Chiist his Lord." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHASL's. 63 

The stone also rises in memory of his f ather. Bailie Bobert 
Thomson, died 23d August 1842, aged 89, and his mother, 
Mary Smith. 

THE MILITARY CORNER. 

There is a triangular nook on the left of the entrance gate 
that is popularly c^ed " The Military Corner," from the cir- 
cumstance that several army officers were buried there, on 
ground allotted for the purpose by the Kirk Session. They 
had visited the town with their respective regiments, and, 
carried off by disease when at a distance from home, they 
bivouac peacefully below, in strange but not unfriendly soil ; 
their name, age, and rank being revealed on the surroundiug 
stones. 

One of the soldiers who here lie " taking their rest " was 
Captain Henry Stearop of " Her Majesty's Edinburgh Regi- 
ment/* who " died when in command at this place," 3d April 
1765, aged 57 years; and who, we are further told, "was 
a soldier from his birth, and was in the most active service 
during the course of the two last wars. He was ever a 
faithful servant to his King and country." Another of them 
was a youthful Celt, Ensign Duncan Campbell, of the 72d 
Highland Regiment, summoned away — on the 20th Novem- 
ber 1807 — "in life's morning march, when his bosom was 
young," before he had seen twenty summers. Another was 
Lieutenant John Welton, of the 28th Foot Regiment, also 
called away to join the countless legions of the dead, long 
before he reached his prime, on the 8th of February 1808. 
Further north a little, and rather beyond the nook, lies John 
Clarke Chambers, Lieutenant of the Norfolk Fencible Light 
Dragoons, with a neat stone placed over him, as " the last but 
deserved tribute " of his brother officers. The deceased, who 
was of Wood-dawling, Norfolkshire, died on the 28th of 
November 1796. 

One of the tombstones of this group bears an inscription 
which must be given at length, as thereby hangs a curious 
tale. The words are as follows : 



64 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 



« 



In memory of William Peck, Esquire, late Surseon of the King's 
Own or 4th Hegiment of Foot, a man of amiable character and good 
dispositions, eminent and useful in his profession. He deceased at 
Dumfries the 11th day of January 1769, in the 52Qd year of his age. 
This monument is erected by Robert Biddick, Esq. of Corbeton, as a 
testimony of friendship, and in gratitude for valuable professional 



services." 



The services here acknowledged were rendered to Mrs 
Riddick. Afflicted with a dangerous malady in one of her 
lower limbs^ she came from Corbeton to Dumfries for the 
purpose of gettiug medical attendance. " Physicians' aid," ad 
supplied by the local doctors, " proved vain ;" and when the 
lady's disease had reached a very critical stage she dreamed 
that she obtained deliverance from it through the instrumen- 
tality of a stranger, who saved her life by cutting off her leg. 
So impressed was Mrs Biddick with her night vision that she 
related it to her husband, describing to him at the same time 
the appearance of the man who had performed the operation, 
and expressing her belief that her dream would some day be 
literally fulfilled. Several weeks afterwards. The King's Own 
Begiment entered Dumfries, and as it passed along the streets 
the invalid lady recognised in the person of Mr William Peck 
the surgeon of her wonderful dream. He was at once applied 
to, and in accordance with those "good dispositions'* 
attributed to him on the tombstone, he attended Mrs Riddick, 
and she was soon able to return home quite restored to health, 
but minus the diseased member, which he had skilfully ampu- 
tated. Years elapsed, and Mr Peck, while still serving with 
his regiment in another part of the country, fell sick, and 
thinking that change of air might do him good, he paid a visit 
to his old friends, the Riddicks. Death was in the cup, 
however ; and when his remains were laid in " The Military 
Comer" of St. Michael's, the grateful Laird of Corbeton 
erected this monument to liis memory. 



ALONG THE NORTHERN WALL. 

jJITN proceeding along the northern boundary, we observe 
j]f numerous high-class monuments, some few of which have 
^^ been erected in honour of distinguished men. The first 
one next the gate bears the illustrious name of Sir Andrew 
Halliday. The true story of his life, how from being a poor 
herd boy in Dryfesdale he obtained European fame as a 
physician, became the confidential adviser of kings, and a bene- 
factor to men of all ranks, reads like a romance. He claimed 
as his progenitor the patriot warrior Thomas Halliday, nephew 
of Sir William "Wallace ; and the knightly honours which he 
won by his worth were quite in keeping with his descent 
from Wallace's " sister's son so dear/' It was on the advice 
of Sir Andrew Halliday that the immense fortune left by 
Dr. James Crichton of Friars' Garse, " £100,000, for beneficial 
purposes,*' was applied in building the Crichton Royal Insti- 
tution for the treatment of the insane, and for a short period 
he officiated as its first medical superintendent* The stone, a 
stately one, of Grecian design, bears the following inscription : 

" Virtute Parta." ** Sacred to the memory of Sir Andrew Halli- 
day, K.H., Deputy-Inspector- general of Hospitals, who died at Dum- 
fries on the 6th Septr., 1839, in the 58th year of his age. He was a 
man of great information, and unbounded benevolence ; was inces- 
santly employed in devising means for ameliorating the condition 
of his fellow-ci-eatures ; and altogether his life was of the most ex- 
tensive usefulness. This monument is erected to his memory by 
a few sincere friends." 

In 1759 a rivalry that had long prevailed between the 
shopocracy and craftsmen of Dumfries rose to a violent pitch. 
It originated in persistent eflforts made by the Merchant class 
to increase their ruling power at the expense of the Trades. 
Bailie James Corbet, who favoured the former party, and 
became their leader in the feud that followed, was chosen 
chief magistrate,, by a "plurality of votes" only, at Michael- 
mas 1758 ; and on his seeking re-election at the ensuing term 



66 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

the Trade Councillors and the democracy out of doors re- 
solved, if possible, to baulk his ambition, and place their 
favourite, John Graham of Kinharvie, in the civic chair. 
When the Council met on Saturday, the 29th of September, 
to proceed with the election. High Street was occupied by a 
riotous multitude, the leaders of which broke forcibly into 
the chamber, expelled the Corbet Councillors before the 
latter had time to elect their chief, and then, under the tur- 
bulent auspices of King Mob, the Deacons and some few 
Merchant members who sympathised with them were left 
free to choose Kinharvie as Provost, which they did by ac- 
clamation. At dead of night the members of the opposite 
party held a secret conclave in the George Inn, Southgate 
Brae, and when far into the Sabbath hours completed the 
election of Mr. Corbet, which had been so rudely interfered 
with. A furious collision ensued between the parties when 
they returned from churching their respective chiefs ; and 
the punishment, by transportation or otherwise, of the prin- 
cipal rioters rendered this great burghal strife increasingly 
memorable. This is the incident in our local annals to 
which reference is made in preceding chapters as the con- 
flict between the Pyets and the Crows — the supporters of 
Mr. Corbet taking that designation because his name re-^ 
sembled the old term for crow and because a raven figured on 
his family crest ; while the Graham party were named after 
the pyet or magpye, on account of its well-known antipathy 
to the " ebony bird." 

These remarks will perhaps cause the visitor to take special 
interest in the next monument. It is a handsome erection, 
between the Doric pilasters of which we read that it is dedi- 
cated to the memory of the Corbie leader, " James Corbet, 
Esq., late Provost of this Burgh, who died the 25th of 
January 1762, aged 53 years." His election, though irre- 
gular, was held to be valid by the Court of Session ; and he 
was again returned as chief magistrate in 1760. The elegiac 
inscription makes no reference to the events which disturbed 
his civic reign ; these are properly passed over, and a glowing 
eulogium flnds place in the following terms : 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 67 

" Endued with an undentanding solid and acute ; yet was he 
distinguished by an unassuming modesty. Honest and benevolent, 
sedate and good humoured, gentle and obliging: an agreeable and 
usefull member of society ; a warm and steady friend ; a husband 
and father affectionate and tender. In health he maintaind a con- 
duct regular and mtuous ; in sickness a behaviour patient and re- 
signd ; and in his last moments a fortitude decent and manly." 

The next stone bears the name of Bailie William Denholm^ 
died 8th September 1762^ aged 67, his spouse, Nicholas 
Dalyell, their son, Captain William Denholm of the 63d 
Regiment, died 23d November 1810, aged 77, his spouse, 
Sarah, and their daughter Catherine, all belonging to a well- 
known family long resident in Broomrig of Holywood. 

Numerous members of another well-known family — ^the 
Lawsons of Kelton — ^are commemorated by two adjoining 
stones : the list includes Eobert Lawson of Knockhomock, 
died 29th May 1800, aged 72 ; his wife, Helen Hannah ; 
and their son Bobert, died at St. Kitts, aged 24 ; also, Greorge 
Lawson of Knockhomock, died at Kelton, 2d February 1870, 
aged 69 ; his spouse, Mary ; their daughter Margaret ; Mary 
Lawson, spouse of Samuel Millar ; Agnes Lawson, who lived 
to be four score ; George Lawson of Kelton, who died two 
years older, 2d July 1845 ; his son William, died at Port 
Louis, Mauritius, 22d February 1845, aged 42 ; Jean 
daughter of George, and wife of William Walker; Helen 
Hannah, another daughter; Jessie Newall Millar, wife of 
James Finlay ; Janet Lawson ; and the husband of the 
latter, Thomas Haining, who, after long worthily officiating 
as local clerk of sasines, died at Glencaple, 12th January 
1873, aged 76. 

We next arrive at a very neat but plain upright tombstone, 
erected over the dust of a worthy and accomplished gentle- 
man. The words upon it conti*ast by their severe simplicity 
with some other epitaphs we have quoted, they merely inti- 
mating that the monument is 



t< 



Sacred to the memory of the Bev. William Bumside, D.D., who 
was admitted Minister of the New Church, Dumfries, June 22d, 1780, 
translated to St Hichaers June 19th, 1794, died January 6th, 1B06, 
aged 65 years.' 



it 



68 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

His spouse, Anne Hutton, died 29th July 1838, aged 79 ; 
and five of their offspring are also named in the inscription : 
Helen and John, cut off when young ; James, died in India 
in 1816, aged 27 ; WiUiam, died at London 2l8t March 1857, 
aged 66 ; and Janet, died 17th March 1856, aged 75.' 

A manuscript History of Dumfries remains in the library of 
the Dumfries and Galloway Club, as a memorial not less of 
Dr. Bumside's amiable nature than of his literary taste and 
skill. It is a folio volume of 172 closely written pages, com- 
piled for Sir John Sinclair's " Statistical Account," and only 
to a small extent embodied in that work. Strictly speak- 
ing, it is not so much a history as a valuable collection of 
statistics, shewing how Dumfries looked and fared at the 
close of the eighteenth century, accompanied by unconnected 
jottings of many priol: historical events relating to the town 
and parish. 

William Stothert, a successful Dumfries merchant, and his 
spouse, Mary Johnstone, are noticed laconically on the next 
nionument : "He died 1st October 1767, aged 73. She died 
22nd March 1763, aged 59." Their son, James Stothert of 
Cargen, died 1st March 1800, age not mentioned ; and his 
spouse, Margaret Oockbum, are borne in remembrance by 
another stone within the same enclosure. A third bears the 
honoured name of a son of James, grandson of the Dum- 
fries merchant, to wit William' Stothert of Cargen, who is 
still well remembered by many as a pious and devoted ojOSice- 
bearer of Maxwelltown Chapel during the early years of its 
existence. He died 23d May 1863, aged 72, in Edinburgh, 
where he had been sojourning for a lengthened period. Mr. 
Stothert was twice married, first to Rebecca Thomson Mon- 
teith, who, it is stated, "fell asleep" 5th December 1825, 
aged 28 ; secondly to Jemima Deborah Dean, who " entered 
into rest" 2d March 1835, aged 29. A fourth monument 
within the same compartment is dedicated to Thomas 
Cockbum Stothert of Blaiket, died at Hastings 30th June 
1817, aged 24; 

Of all the compartments in the entire range of the burial- 
ground, that which belongs to the Craigmuie family is kept 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 69 

in the finest order. It seems almost like a section cut from 
the Cemetery of Fere la Chaise. Two stately old-fashioned 
pionuments help to supply a fitting framework on the north, 
while in front are seen several smaller modem erections, 
mostly cruciform, on which some rare workmanship has been 
lavished. Bushes of dwarf yew, not pining alone, like Blair's 
*^ cheerless unsocial plant/* but growing up lovingly alongside 
of geraniums and other cheerful flowers, and the beautiful 
artistic products combining finely with the spring-revived 
or evergreen garniture of the enclosure ; the emblematic 
stones and the flowers telling alike of a resurrection day. 
Three leading families of the district — ^the Groldies, Corries, 
and Lawsons — ^have contributed to the population of the 
sepulchre below. 

One of the wall monuments commemorates Thomas Corrie 
of Steilston, died 15th April 1859, aged 70 ; his wife, 
Clementina Blair Boss ; and their son, Hugh Corrie, died 
5th June 1860, aged 41. The elder Mr. Corrie was manager 
of the British Linen Company's Bank, !l^dinburgh, and pro- 
prietor of Newtonairds and Priestlands, as well as Steilston. 
One of his daughters was married to the late Vice- Admiral 
Archibald M'Murdo of Cargenholm, in which way the 
Corries became connected with another distinguished Dum- 
fries family. Walter de Corrie, the first of the name upon 
record, was constable of the Castle of Dumfries in 1291-2. 
James Corrie, another of the race, bore rule as provost in 
1718-19-20, and during two subsequent biennial periods. 

A lengthened obituary, as follows, appears upon the other 
principal monument: John Goldie of Craigmuie, who was 
many years Commissary of Dumfries, died 1776, aged 64; 
Jean Corrie, his wife, daughter of James Corrie of Speddoch ; 
James, their eldest son, died 1763, aged 26 ; Catherine, wife 
of David Corrie of Newlaw, died 1782, aged 35 ; Thomas, 
the fifth son, who officiated also as Commissary of Dumfries, 
died 4th March 1823, aged 75 ; Helen Lawson, his wife, 
daughter of Hugh Lawson of Girthead ; and Grace, Janet, 
and Jane, their daughters, the latter a lady of high mark in 
many respects, who died at Summerhill 13th February 1852, 



70 MZUORIALS OF ST. MIGHAEL's. 

aged 69. On the plinth of the edifice appear the names of 
other members of the family, including Mary, daughter of 
Thomas Goldie, and wife of Major P. G. Blair of the Madras 
Artillery, both of whom died in India ; also Catherine, another 
daughter, wife of the Eev. David Dow of Irongray. On one 
of the cruciform stones are inscribed, without dates, the 
names of William Scot of Craigmuie and Helen Goldie, his 
spouse. 

Commissury John Goldie, the elder, was also Sheriff- 
Depute of Dumfriesshire, in which latter capacity he kept up 
a highly interesting correspondence with a Church dignitary 
of Carlisle regarding the movements of Prince Charles, which 
throws much light upon the Jacobite raid from Edinburgh 
into the Border country. "With the younger Commissary 
Groldie, Bums had frequent intercourse, though politically 
they were wide as the poles asunder, the former being a high 
Conservative and the latter something more than a Whig. 
Soon after the first French Eevolution broke out, a sort of 
anti-Gallican association was formed in Dumfries for "pre- 
serving peace, liberty, and property, and for supporting the 
laws and constitution of the country," all which were sup- 
posed by many timid persons to be endangered by the mad 
doings of the demagogues across the Channel. Over this 
patriotic body, which was named the Loyal Native Club, Mr. 
Goldie bore rule as president. It appears, however, to have 
had but a brief existence, the Badical bard almost snuffing it 
out by his audacious impromptu : 

"Ye true Loyal Natives attend to my song, 
In uproar and riot rejoice the night long ; 
From envy and hatred your corps is exempt, 
But where is your shield from the darts of contempt ?" 

As we read the name Jane Goldie, the figure of a comely 
gentlewoman going about "doing good," by acts of open- 
handed charity and by fostering many benevolent schemes, 
rises up to fancy's eye, as familiar on our streets forty years 
ago. Miss Goldie was also an authoress of considerable re- 
pute, discussing social, religious, and even political topics 
with much originality and force, in three small volumes? 



ICXHORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 71 

entitled respectively "Faith and Opinion," "Family Ee- 
coUections/' and " Freedom not Lawlessness.'' In her latter 
days she, like her relative Mr. Dow of Irongray, adopted 
Millennarian views; and the embryo congregation of the 
Irvingites received much fostering encouragement from the 
gifted lady of SummerhilL She bequeathed ;£300 to pur- 
chase a public park for Mazwelltown ; and although twenty- 
four years have since elapsed, the legacy has not yet been 
given effect to, owing greatly to the difficulty experienced by 
the trustees in getting a suitable field for the sum at their 
disposal. Bank interest has swelled it to j£400 ; and we 
venture to express a hope that this sum will ere long be en- 
larged by voluntary contributions, and the contemplated park 
be secured as a boon to the Maxwelltonians and an evergreen 
memento of their amiable benefactress. 

Next to the Craigmuie ground several members of two 
other notable families — ^the Herons of Heron and the 
Maxwells of Cargen — ^lie interred. The head of the former 
a centoiy ago owned much property in Dumfries, and was a 
partner in the Ayr Bank, whose unfortunate collapse in 1772 
brought ruin to many households. His daughter Mary 
became the spouse of Bobert MaxWell, yho appears in the 
history of the Burgh as a man of considerable parts and of 
no ordinary aspirations. He was elevated to the provostship 
in 1756, and after holding it for two years would fain have 
got the lease renewed for other- two; but meeting with 
strong opposition, he retired in order to support the candi- 
dature of his brother-in-law. Bailie James Corbet, whose ex- 
traordinary contest with Graham of Kinharvie we described 
at the beginning of the present chapter. The vast influence 
wielded by Robert Maxwell is, however, evidenced by the 
fact that he officiated as chief magistrate for a longer period 
than any other provost, with the single exception of John 
Staig— his terms extending over 1756-7-8, 1760-1-2, 1766-7-8, 
1772-3, 1776-7-8, 1779-80-1. Dying in her matronly prime. 
Provost Maxwell's faithful spouse was buried here ; her 
graces of mind and body being thus finely portrayed on the 
memorial stone : 



72 HflUORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

'* In memory of Mary Heron, daughter of Patrick Heron, Esq., and 
wife oi Robert Maxwell of Gargen, who died February, 1772, aged 
38. In her, external attractions were heightened by the most amiable 
virtues : manners aif able, gentle, and engaging ; a winning sweetness 
and equality of temper ; a disposition social and benevolent rendered 
her esteerii'd and belov'd by aU who knew her ; to her husband i^ 
complacent, tender, and affectionate wife ; to her children an atten- 
tive parent, faithful monitor, and bright example. By an unwearied 
exertion of every domestic virtue she diffused constant happiness 
tbf o' all her family, who on her account ne'er felt a pang but when 
she died."* 

In front of thia monument, which stands upon the wall, 
there are three altar-stones, one of them very antique, com- 
memorating Grisaall Maxwell, died 17th April 1733, aged 15, 
and John Maxwell, merchant, died in August 1747, aged 34, 
children of Edward Maxwell, merchant. Rich carved work in 
high relief, representing the symbols of death and the hope 
which looks beyond the grave, gives an attractive border to 
the tablet — the most conspicuous feature being an open Bible 
displaying the words " Verbum Dei manet in setemum :" the 
Word of God which endureth for ever. The other stones are 
devoted to the memory of Bailie Edward Maxwell, merchant, 
died 4th April 1740, aged 56 ; Mary Irving, his spouse ; 
Provost Edward Maxwell, who bore rule in 1774-6, and 
died 15th October 1788, age not given ; his wife, Charlotte 
Blair, and three of their children ; one of whom. Major Bryce 
Maxwell, of the 8th Foot Begiment, fell fighting gallantly in 
Martinique when that island was taken by the British from 
the French in 1809. 

For some thirty years, ending in 1770, James Hill was the 
chief surgeon and compounder of medicines in the Burgh. 
One of his apprentices whom he instructed in the healing art. 
Dr. Benjamin Bell, rose to be the greatest surgeon of his day 
in Scotland ; and the master acquired much professional and 
scientific repute also, though it was of a more restricted range 
than that enjoyed by his celebrated pupil. The dust of this 

* The fine idsa expressed in the last sentence seems to have been 
borrowed from Pope's Epitaph on the Hon. Simon Harcourt : 

*' To this sad shrine, whoe'er thou art, draw near ; 
Here lies the friend most loved, the son most dear ; 
Who ne*er knew joy but friendship might divide. 
Or gave his father grief but when ne died.*' 



MEMORIALS OF ST. UICHASL's. 73 

^' good apothecary " lies beside the next monument we reach, 
a fine stately structure resting upon the wall, on which are 
inscribed the following words, which do no more than justice 
to the memoiy of an intelligent and worthy man : — 

" Sacred to the memory of James Hill, late surgeon in Dumfries, 
who died in the year 1770, aged 73. To very superior skill in his 



profession, he joined a taste for science, which he cultivated to the 
latest period of his life. His benevolence to the poor, who had not 
then the resource of an Infirmary, was unwearied." 



A supplementary inscription states, in a style of quiet 
pathos, that 

"Here also rest the remains of Ann M*Cartney, of Blaiket, liis 
spouse, the last of her family, whose modest virtues and humble 
piety retired from public view." 

Six of their offspring are named on the monument : Robert, 
'^ lost in the Nith," at the age of 11 ; Margaret, Agnes, and 
Janet, " who grew up to be women f John, who died " at an 
early age " in Jamaica ; and Harriet, who died at Bath : " all 
of them were respected, loved, mourned." Within the same 
compartment two table stones commemorate other relatives, 
including George M'Cartney of Blaiket, brother of Mrs Hill, 
died 16th May 1758, aged 30 ; his sister Janet ; George Hill 
of Blaiket, died 29th January 1810, aged 67 — Jean Callander 
his spouse ; George McCartney Hill, died in the. Island of 
Tobago, 7th October 1813, aged 33 ; James Hill, M.D., died 
in the Island of St. Croix, 12th June 1824, aged 49 ; John 
Hill, died in Edinburgh, 22d June 1857, aged 80 ; and 
Margaret Gillespie, his spouse. 

While John Hill, apothecary, was ministering to the health 
of the lieges, he who ia his next door neighbour in '' the silent 
land" waa busy familiarising the ^^ rising generation'' of that 
day with the mysteries of Euclid and Dil worth — ^his humble 
tombstone telling posterity that *' Here lyes what is mortal of 
Charles Mercer, mathematician, Dumfries, who died the 13th 
July 1772, aged 74 years." Mr. Mercer was the first teacher 
of arithmetic, mathematics, and writin'g, under Bailie Pater- 
8on*s bequest. His wife, Mary Grierson, and their son John, 
who died at 18, are also named in the ins(iription. 

In the adjoinmg burial-place of George Gordon of 
Troquhain there are two altar-stones, commemorating his 



74 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

daughters, Maigaret and Mary, both of whom reached an 
advanced age ; and another daughter Janet, relict of the Eev. 
Thoma» M'Kinnell, minister of Urr, died 12th September, 
1784, aged 76. 

On the next plot we find a unique erection, which is much 
admired on account of its fine proportions and florid orna- 
mentation. Of a massive pyramidal shape, it constitutes a 
monumental gem, worthy of the genius to whom it is popu- 
larly, but erroneously, attributed — Inigo Jones. It com- 
memorates the virtues of Sarah, wife of Bobert Cutlar, mer- 
chant, died 6th December 1759, aged 44 ; and who, it is 
stated, was '' Pious and devout, friendly and affectionate, open 
and sincere," passing " through life under a heavy pressure of 
long affliction, cheerfully sustained in the supporting prospect 
of a better state." A flat stone in front is thus inscribed : 

" In memory of Miss Wauchop Biddell, sixth daughter of Bobert 
Kiddell. Esq. of Qlenriddell, and Jean Fergusson of Craigdarroch. 
She died most universally lamented 22d November, 1779, in the 28th 
year of her age." 

The Robert Cutlar mentioned above carried on a flourishing 
business in Dumfries, though he occupied, it is said, premises 
that are now deemed very humble — the little sho^ below the 
porch of the Mid Steeple, on the south side. By marrying 
into the patrician family of Craigdarroch he improved his 
social position. His own family name was borne by several 
of his wife's relatives, among others by her nephew, Robert 
Cutlar Fergusson, the distinguished senator. Mr. Fergusson, 
after returning from India, where he spent his early man- 
hood, was nominated by the Whig party in Kirkcudbright- 
shire to oppose General Dunlop of Southwick, who had been 
Conservative member for the constituency during three suc- 
cessive Parliaments. The contest occasioned extraordinary 
excitement, and resulted in the return of Mr. Fergusson by 
the narrow majority of one vote, the numbers having been 
48 to 47. This was the last election battle fought in the 
Stewartry under the old system ; and he continued to occupy 
the seat when the constituency was enlarged by the Reform 
Act of 1832. The political career of the honourable member 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 75 

amply justified the high expectations formed by his friends, 
and it received a brilliant halo from his devoted advocacy 
of the cause of unhappy Poland, whose sons still hold his 
memory dear. Not a few members of the Craigdarroch 
family acquired distinction in the field and the senate. 
The head of the house in Bums's day, ^'Craigdarroch 
so famous for wit, worth, and law," bore off the Whistle 
trophy in the famous Bacchanalian contest, where much 
claret but no blood was shed ; the Glenriddell whose name 
appears above as the father of Wauchop Biddell being the 
father of another of the combatants, and characterised by the 
bard as *' the worthy Glenriddell so cautious and sage." How 
closely Bums was associated with the Biddells is known to 
all who have followed his career when he resided at Ellisland 
and Dumfries, and are familiar with the later productions of 
his muse. An upright slab, fronting the Outlar monument, 
rises in memory of Heniy Fergusson of Craigdarroch, who 
died January 29th 1847, aged 72. 

In the next compartment lies James Harley, by whom 
much of the carpentry of the Burgh a hundred years ago was 
executed, his handicraft being especially shewn in the erec- 
tion of the Church under whose shadow the family tombstone 
rises, and for the timber work of which venerable fane j£186 
was charged, and in Moorheads' Hospital, in the adjoining 
street, for building which he received j£564. James Harley 
became Deacon of the Squaremen, and besides founding, 
or helping to erect, some notable public buildings, he 
founded a family of good condition, the Harleys of Port- 
rack. He died at the advanced age of 87, on the 28th of 
May 1795. His spouse, Mary Appleby, and children, seven 
in number, are named upon the monument. Overlooking 
it^ upon the wall, rises a more imposing structure, in 
memory of his son, John Harley, surgeon, died January 
1803, age not stated ; of the wife of the latter, Elizabeth 
Maxwell, and of their five children, including Alexander 
Harley Maxwell of Portrack, died 20th September 1853, 
aged 70, who was long the respected chamberlain of the 
Duke of Bucdeuch in Eskdale. 



76 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

A plain wall monument in memory of William Gonyon, 
died 12tli Jaaiuary 1865, aged 87, and his wife Mary Gulline 
is neighboured by four altar-stones, bearing the death-record 
of several relatives, eome of whom flourished as merchants 
during the middle of last century. We read of Bobert 
Goldie, died 22d October 1767, aged 72 ; his spouse, Margaret 
Brpwn ; Eobert Qlover, died 26th April 1807, aged 26 ; his 
wife, Elizabeth Porteous; that lady's brother, Robert 
Porteous, died 24th July 1802, aged 72 ; his two wives, 
Abigail Hair and Mary Hyslop ; his two sisters, Helen and 
Mary ; and three children ; also of William Gunyon, died 
16th February 1755, aged 66; another William Gunyon, 
died 19th ISfarch 1812, aged 70 ; his wife Jean M'Kie ; 
and two youug members of their family. 

The last named merchant is described as a tobacconist, the 
earliest of that occupation we have as yet seen noticed in the 
Cemetery, though long before he was born the West India 
" weed " formed the subject of a very extensive trade, partly 
contraband, in the waters of the Solway. About 1250 hogs- 
heads which paid duty were annually imported by the Burgh 
for a long series of years prior to 1740 ; but according to Br. 
Bumside it is believed the exportation was considerably 
greater, and that, "in consequence of some unhappy mistakes 
of this kind, the trade was discouraged." 

On one of the stones appears the name of William Din- 
widdie, painter and glazier, who, "respected by all who had 
the pleasure of his acquaintance,'' died 15th December 1823, 
aged 51. He was the father of our esteemed townsman, Mr. 
James Dinwiddie, who loug and successfully followed the 
same occupation ; and he married Marion Gunyoo, the sister 
of the tobacconist, who, with three children, and Grizzel 
Johnston, died 1st December 1815, aged 49, are also men- 
tioned on the monument. 

The graves of John Brand, died 26th December 1830, 
aged 72, and of William Brand, both of Mountainhall, 
and of a nephew of the former, Thomas Thorbum, 
W.S., are next reached ; the handsome monument which 
commemorates them furnishing the record of one who 



UBM0KIAL8 OF ST. MICHAEL's. 77 

was all but a centenarian. If William Brand, who 
^'shuffled off this mortal coil'' on the 27th of August 
1825, had retained it a few months longer, he would have 
been a hundred years of age. He lived under the regal rule 
of all the four Greorges, was old enough to have remembered 
when the young Pretender held kingly state in Holyrood 
and to have seen him occupying Dumfries with his Highland 
followers, ai^d also to have witnessed his successor, George 
the Fourth, hold a levee in the same royal halls. Moor- 
heads' Hospital, the verdant Dock avenue, the Dumfries and 
Gkdloway Boyal Infirmary, the New Church, the present St. 
Michael's Church, and the New Bridge, had no existence 
when the deceased gentleman was bom ; and these, with 
many other acquisitions, helped to revolutionise the aspect of 
the Burgh during his protracted career. More privileged he 
was than most mortals who live far into the winter of 
existence if he did not pass through other changes of a 
different kind, such as are expressed by the moralising poet : 

"Year chases year, decay pursues decay, 
Still drops some joy frora withering life away ; 
New forms arise, and different views engage, 
Saperflaoas lags the veteran on the stage ; 
Till pitying nature signs a last release. 
And bids afflicted worth depai-t in peace. ^' 

Of centenarians the grounds afford little trace. Two other 
monuments tell of older men than the one erected over Mr. 
Brand, and only two, out of the three thousand stones or 
more scattered over the Cemetery. 

Thomas Thorburn, whose name is mentioned on the 
Mountainhall monument, resided at Byedale, rendered 
classical as the favourite resort of Bums when it was occu- 
pied by his good friend John Syme, " Stamp Office Johnie," 
whose worth, wit, and mental strength have been lovingly 
conunemorated by the poet. Mr. Thorburn was intimately 
conversant with our national airs and lyrics, as his valuable 
notes to "Wood's Songs of Scotland" bear ample witness. 
He died on the 30th of July 1872, age not given. A slab in 
front bears the names of Marion Grierson and Mary Brand, 
wives of William Burnet. 



78 ICEMOBIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

At aLnost every step we take, a wminder is gupplied of 
Death's levelling influence, and that the only tnie republic is 
where he ^^ keeps his pale court in beauty and decay." It 
does not need a tombstone next to the Mountainhall monu> 
ment, raised over member, of a related family to prodaim 
the solemn truth; yet the beautiful language embodying it 
is well worthy of being quoted : 

*' How lov*d, how Taltt'd once, avails thee not ; 
To whom related or by whom begot, 
A heap of dust alone remains of thee, 
'Tlb all thou art, and all the proud shall be." 

These lines appear on a stone raised in memory of Margaret 
MitcheU, spouse of Joseph Donaldson, merchant, died 19th 
December 1771, aged 56 ; also of Janet Donaldson, wife of 
Eobert M'Oaskie, tallow-chandler, died 4th May 1804, aged 
60. "The above inscription," it is added, "is done by 
Bethia Brand, her sister.'' Joseph Donaldson is himself com- 
memorated by an adjoining stone, on which we read that he 
died 20th April 1772, aged 66, and that " he was a loving 
husband, an affectionate parent, a sincere friend, and a good 
Christian." The names of four children also appear on the 
tablet, one of whom, Ebenezer, was a surgeon, and died 7th 
April 1786, aged 34. 

Several neat headstones along the wall, and table monu- 
ments in front of them, recal the names of respected trades- 
men and merchants, such as Bobert Muir, blacksmith, died 
21st December 1853, aged 70, his spouse Isabel M'Nish, 
their daughter Agnes, and other relatives, lying sleeping 
at his side ; John Courtis, merchant, died 23d June 1828, 
aged 76, with his wife Margaret Cunningham ; James 
Perry, baker, who married the merchant's daughter 
Agnes, and died 28th February 1851, aged 62 ; several 
children, including Thomas who died at 27, James at 
34, and Charles at 42 ; Bachel Chalmers, wife of James 
Perry, saddler, died 8th June 1854, aged 34, with their three 
children, all of whom were cut off in tender years ; Charles 
Mills, Deacon of the Tailors, now lying " clad in clay," to use 
the expressive phrase of the old balladists, his death occurring 
12th June 1787, age 76 ; Margaret Clark, his spouse ; William 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 79 

Cunningham, also a tailor, who wedded, first, the Deacon's 
daughter Mary, and afterwards Margaret Campbell, and 
died 7th August 1815, aged 76, leaving several children, 
among others Catherine who died at 24, Jane at 63, and 
Mary at 85 ; Joseph Irving, joiner, died at Dalkeith 13th 
July 1808, aged 28, Henrietta M'Bumie his spouse, and their 
daughter Josephine, wife of John Sharpe, baker. 

Here lies also beneath a table stone one of the magistrates 
of the Burgh, BaOie Eobert Wright, merchant, died 11th 
January 1781, aged 60, with his wife, Margaret Lowdon ; a 
similar monument beside it marking the resting-place of 
another merchant, James Henderson, died 16th January 
1745, aged 31. 

« 

James Kamsay of Drungans, who preceded John Mitchell 
as Collector of Excise in this district, is commemorated by a 
massive altar-stone — died 12th March 1788, aged 62 ; also 
his wife, Mary Sloan ; and five children, including Lieutenant 
James Bamsay, died at Leven, Fifeshire, 8th January 1812? 
aged 49 ; Peter, died at Keswick, 21st November 1835, aged 
72 ; and John, who " practised the profession of a physician 
in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for the space of forty years with 
honour and success,'' dying in Edinburgh 8th July 1845, in 
his 80th year. 

Further on, within grounds chain-protected and neatly 
kept, rises a tall, handsome obelisk, in memory of a worthy 
man, John Allan of Fountainbleau, who died at Nith Lodge, 
Dumfries, 22d September 1861, aged 67. Two daughters, 
Elizabeth, who died when 19, and Josephine when 21, are 
also named upon the monument. His wife's father, John 
Beid, cabinetmaker, died August 1819 (no age mentioned), 
and mother Janet Caird, with their infant son, W. C. Reid, 
are commemorated on an altar-stone within the same 
enclosure. 

« 

NORTH-EAST NOOK — THE POET's CORNER. 

Even as the north-west nook of the Churchyard is known 
as " The Military Comer," so might the north-east nook, now 
arrived at, be termed "The Poet's Comer." Thither was 



80 UBMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

borne the body of Bums on the fourth day after his death, 
the earth by receiving his dust, and hoarding it ''with miser 
care" for nineteen years, obtaining more than priestly con- 
secration ; and clustering round the spot lie the remains of 
several contemporaries who, while he and they were yet 
alive, paid homage to his genius. The list includes William 
Hyslop of Lochend ; his spouse, Jean, daughter of Ter- 
raughty, "the Maxwell's vet'ran chief f John Bushby, once 
a favourite cronie of Bums, though they ultimately 
fell out ; James Gracie, banker, a kind friend to the bard 
when he most needed help; John Lewars, father of the 
poet's brotherly colleague in the Excise, and of the far-famed 
Jessie Lewars, who was a ministering angel to the poet when 
on his death-bed ; and Provost Robert Jackson, whose 
hospitable house often received "the inspired ganger" as 
a welcome guest. Most of their names, written by the 
sculptor's iron pen, are preserved on the surrounding monu- 
ments. 

On the Hyslop monument appear his own name, date of 
death 26th May 1803, aged 59, and his social chai*acteristics 
briefly sketched — " an affectionate husband and parent, and a 
zealous and liberal friend ;" also the names of his wife and of 
no fewer than fourteen children, all of whom have long since 
been numbered with the dead. Five of them died when 
infants, the others at the following ages : Jean, 23 ; William, 
56 ; Marian, 46 ; John, 65 ; Maxwell, 63 ; Agnes (relict of 
David Gordon), 63; Wellwood, who resided forty years at 
Kingston, Jamaica, where he died 16th February 1846, aged 
64 ; Elizabeth, 56 ; and Helen Stewart, " the last of that 
bright band," who died 12th January 1852, at the advanced 
age of 75. 

Fronting this edifice there are two headstones, one 
raised in remembrauce of John Johnston, died 19th May 
1836, aged 70 ; eight of his offspring, including William, 
died at St. Bartholomew, West Indies, 21st November 
1827, aged 24 ; the other stone commemorating Lieutenant 
Walter Bitchie, of the 14th Light Dragoons, died at Nith- 
bank, 1st November 1823, aged 34. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 81 

The Bushby monument is a handsome urn-surmounted 
obelisk, built, we believe, by Bums's friend in memory of his 
father, and intended also to commemorate himself; but, 
strange to say, it bears only the father's name and that of 
another son Thomas. In the inscription John Bushby, senior, 
is represented as " late vintner in Dumfries, who died 8 June 
1781, aged 78 years," and his son Thomas, as Collector of 
Customs in Kirkcudbright, died 30th August 1807, aged 66. 
John* Bushby of Tinwald Downs was bred a writer. Natur- 
ally clever, astute, and aspiring, he gradually got on in the 
world, and as solicitor, private banker, and factor over Bock- 
hall and other estates, he was a prosperous man when he first 
made the acquaintance of the national bard, who was then 
toiling away at Ellisland in the double capacity of farmer 
and exciseman. After Bums came to Dumfries he was a 
frequent guest at Tinwald Downs; but he and its wealthy 
occupant eventually quarrelled, and Bushby was bitterly 
satirised in the Heron Election Ballads of 1795. He is also 
the subject of the well-known epitaph which Bums must 
have penned when in a splenetic mood : 

** Here lies John Bushby. honsH man ; 
Cheat him, Devil, if you oan." 

As the name John Bushby, junior, does not appear on the 
family obelisk, we supposed he might have been buried near 
his mansion, in Tinwald Churchyard ; but on ascertaining that 
this was not the case, we could not avoid coming to the con- 
clusion that he must have found a resting-place beside his 
father, and that through sheer neglect on the part of sur- 
viving relatives his noteworthy obituary has been omitted 
from the stone-book of St. Michael's.* He is represented in 
" John Bushby's Lamentation " as saying, with reference to 
the help he gave to Mr. Gordon in his contest with Mr. 
Heron for Elirkcudbrightshire : 

* In answer to our enquiries on this subject, Mr. William Crockett, 
schoolmaster at Amisfleld, kindly favoured us by stating that he had 
applied to many persons who might be supposed to know something 
regarding it, among others to the person in charge of the graveyard, 
and *' they all concur in believing that John Busnby is not buried in 
the churchyard of Tinwald. *' 

F 



82 MBHORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL's. 



" And there led I the Basfabys a* ; 
My gamesomerbiUie Will, 

a 



And my son Maitland, wise as brave, 
My rootsteps followed stilL' 



Whether any of these " Boshbys a* " were laid in this plot, 
we know not ; but it supplied sleeping room for the last re- 
maining male descendant of their chief, Peter, a deaf mute, 
who was struck down by cholera in 1848 — only twelve 
and a half hours transpiring between the attack and his 
interment. Mute too, regarding him, the monument has 
nothing to say of Peter Bushby, who was a respectable man 
and very intelligent in spite of his natural defects. 

Close to the spot where Bums was first buried rises a neat 
upright monument, in memory of the man whose general and 
official virtues he celebrated in a rough and ready epigram : 

'* Gracie, thou art a man of worth ; 
O, be thou Dean for erer !" &c. 

For upwards of twenty years, James Grade occupied the 
magisterial Bench as Treasurer or Dean of Guild. He was a 
captain in the famous "Dumfries Volunteers," of which 
Bums was a member and the amateur poet-laureate : vide 
his song, " Does haughty Gaul invasion threat Y* When the 
bard lay hopelessly ill at Brow, the carriage of Mr. Gracie 
was placed at his service to bring him home, where he ar- 
rived only to breathe his last. Mr. Gracie died 23d March 
1814, at the age of 58. The monument also commemorates 
his wife Jean Cowan, who died 15th October 1836, aged 88, 
niece of Mary Wilson of Kelton, wife of William Kirk- 
patrick of Conheath, and great-grandmother of Eugenie, 
Empress of the French ; also their son William, a W.S., died 
13th March 1818, aged 32 ; and their second son, James, who 
sought " the bubble reputation even at the cannon's mouth.'' 
As brevet major in the 21st Infantry Begiment, he was at 
the taking of G^noa and the battle of Bladensberg; with 
twenty picked men he led the forlorn hope at the capture of 
Washington, where he was wounded ; and, when aged only 
30, he, '^foremost fighting, fell'' at the battle of Baltimore, 
13th September 1813. Also their other children — Jessie 
Wilson, who died at 30 ; Margaret^ at 58 ; John, at 57 ; the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 83 

wife of the latter, Isabella Campbell of Springfield, Galloway; 
and their daughter Jean Cowan, "a true woman/' Tbe 
name of the well known genealogist, James Campbell 
Gracie, Dumfries, son of John and grandson of the 
banker, also appears upon the tablet, but we are glad to say 
he still survives, the inscription having been prudently placed 
by him there beforehand. 

To the memory of John Lewars, Supervisor of Excise, 
Dumfries, a neat table-stone is devoted, the words on which 
inform us that he died on the 22d of April 1789, in the 69th 
year of his age ; and we may fittingly add here what is said 
of his son in the obituary of the Dumtriea Monthly Magazi/M 
for October 1826 : ** At Kyedale Cottage, Troqueer, Mr. 
John Lewars, late Supervisor of Excise in Dumfries, aged 
67 years. It was from Mr. Lewars that Bums received his 
official instructions on entering the Excise ; and from this 
circumstance originated a friendship which existed between 
them, without interruption, until the death of the poet." 

The Jackson monument is an imposing structure, Gothic in 
design, with a cross by way of apex. It commemorates a 
gentleman who was honourably associated with the literary 
as well as the municipal concerns of the Burgh. He it was 
who launched its first periodical, the Dumfries Magazine, and 
its first newspaper, the Dumfries Weekly Journal^ the former 
being withdrawn prior to the starting of the latter in 
1777. Though Provost Jackson paid great attention to 
Burns, there is little said in his broadsheet respecting the 
movements of the poet, even the memorable fact that Dum- 
fries acquired him as a citizen towards the close of 1791 re- 
ceiving no mention in the local newspaper ; but then editors 
in these days did not interview great men as they now do, 
and the fame of the bard was at that date only in the bud, 
not in the full flower. With some two or three of his pieces, 
however, the pages of the Weekly Journal were afterwards 
enriched. According to the inscription on the memorial- 
stone, Mr. Jackson was " many years Provost of this Burgh '* 
— the precise periods are 1797-8-9, 1800-1-2, 1809-10— and he 
died 16th December 1810, aged 67. The monument also 



84 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

oommeinorates his wife Jane Cochrane, their children, in- 
eluding Jane, died at 24; Robert, Comptroller of Customs, 
died 8th January 1824, aged 51 ; Janet, died 27th April 1854, 
aged 79 ; her husband William Comrie, died 13th November 
1811, aged 50 ; and Jane, their daughter, who died at 15. 

Penetrating through these surroundings, we reach the 
hallowed core of the Comer, and realise in some degree the 
solemn scene that ensued when it gave reception to the body 
of Bums, on Monday the 21st of July 1796. Dumfries wore 
that day a mournful, yet animated, aspect. The ordinary 
population was swelled by sympathetic crowds; military 
men, belonging to the Cinque Ports cavalry and the Angus- 
shire Fencibles, then stationed in the town, lined the long, 
diversified thoroughfare leading from the Town Hall, where 
the body lay in state, to the place of burial ; through the 
files of these guardian soldiers passed the bier, slowly bome 
by six of the Dumfries Volunteers, who changed at intervals, 
not so much for rest as that many might share the honour of 
carrying their comrade to the tomb ; the Cinque Ports' band 
preceding with suitable music ; the whole procession being 
headed by another body of Volunteers, "the firing party," 
and followed up by a vast array of the unmarshalled 
populace. Comparatively few could see the simple obsequies 
as the body was lowered to its lonely resting place, but all 
heard the tolling of the mufEled bells and the notes of the 
Dead March in Saul, which gave voice to the general 
emotion of sorrow, and the piercing salute of musketry fired 
over the newly occupied grave, which sounded like the vale 
eterrvum of the assembled mourners to the coffined dead, 
buried out of sight, yet never to be forgotten, and ever ac- 
quiring a fresh heritage of fame as the years roll past. 

"Great," says Professor Wilson, "was the grief of the 
people for their poet's death. They felt that they had lost 
their greatest man ; and it is no exaggeration to say that 
Scotland was saddened on the day of his funeral. It is 
seldom that tears are shed even close to the grave beyond the 
inner circle that narrows around it ; but that day there were 
tears in the eyes of many far off at their work, and that 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 85 

niglit there was silence in thousands of cottages that had so 
often heard his songs — how sweeter far than any other, 
whether mournfully or merrily, to old accordant melodies, 
they won their way into the heart !*' 

'* Praise to the man ! A nation stood 
Beside his coffin with wet eyes — 
Her brave, her beautiful, her good — 
As when a loved one <^es. 

And still, as on his funeral day. 

Men stiwd his cold earth-couch around, 

With the mute homage that we pay 
To consecrated ground,"* 

The piece of ground first occupied by the remains of the poet 
had been purchased by him some years before his death for 
a fainily burial place f; and when in 1815 his dust was re- 
interred below the Mausoleum, the plot was given by Mrs. 
Burns to a respected friend, Monsieur Perochon, whose wife 
was daughter of the poet's kind patroness, Mrs. Dunlop ; and 
Mrs. Perochon, in accordance with her dying wish, was laid 
in the tomb of her mother's friend. Often did he in corres- 
ponding with Mrs. Dunlop refer with enthusiasm to her 
glorious ancestor, the Liberator of Scotland. " Your patron- 
ising me," he said on one occasion, " and interesting yourself 
in my fame and character as a poet I rejoice in ; it exalts me 
in my own idea ; and whether you can or cannot aid me in 
my subscription list is a trifle. Has a paltry subscription list 
any charms to the heart of a bard compared with the patron- 
age of the descendant of the immortal Wallace?" Thus 
there is more than romance, there is a poetical fitness, in the 
arrangement by which this generous lady's child was laid in 
the grave of the man whom her mother delighted to honour ; 

* Verses on viewing the remains of a rose brought from Alloway 
Kirk, in autumn 1822, by Fitzgreen Halleck, an American poet, pre- 
viously quoted from on p. 2. 

f We have not been able to find any entry in the St Michaers Kirk- 
Session Minutes respecting this purchase. At a meeting held by the 
Session, 2l8t October 17%, several months after the poet's death. 
** a petition was read and agreed to in favour of Bailie Robert and 
the deceased Bobert Bums for two burying-grounds, as in the petitions 
of this date ; and the clerk was appointed to register them in the 
books kept for that purpose ; the above burying-grounds to be paid 
for at the rate of one guinea each, together with clerk's and beadle's 
dues." 



XEKORIALS OF ST. XIGHAEL's. 

who sang ''Soots wba hae wi' Wallace bled f^ and irho, in a 
bttnt of patriotic f ervonry exclaimed : 

"At Wallaoe* name wlkat Soottiah blood 
But boilB into a spring-tide flood !" 

On the monument^ a neat oblong block, there is the following 
inscription : 

** Sacred to the memorr of Acnes Eleanor Dnnlop, wife of Joaepli 
Ellaa Perochon, Esq., and dan^ter of the Ute Mra. Frances Wallace 
Dnnlop of Dnnlop, the only daughter and wortiiy repreaentative of 
Sir Thomas Wallace of Graigie, BarL, who died the 16th Oct. 1825. 
Also in memory of Anne, daughter of Alexander Cunningham, E^q., 
•ad widow of Anthony Dnnlop, Esq., who died 17th Febroary 1854." 

Mrs. Perochon's husband, we may add, was a French 
Bojalist, who fled from his native country during its re- 
Yolutionary troubles, and found a pleasant retreat at Castle- 
bank, Dumfries. He was an estimable gentleman, and, 
though deprived of eyesight, possessed of mauy accomplish- 
ments. Like her mother, Mrs. Perochon was a warm- 
hearted, generous, and estimable lady. After the death of 
Bums the friendship between her and Mrs. Bums was still 
continued, and it was specially manifested by the former in 
zealous efforts to benefit the poef s widow and family, and 
which the latter lovingly acknowledged. "Much indeed," 
wrote Mrs. Bums to Mrs. Perochon on the 2d of Febmary 
1816, "do I already owe to your disinterested friendship; 
and while a generous public are anxious to do justice to the 
genius of my husband by building so superb a monument to 
perpetuate his memory, you have paid the best tribute of 
your regard by so warmly interesting yourself in behalf of 
his widow and his children. In this you follow the ex- 
ample of her whose virtues you inherit, and who highly 
distinguished Mr. B. by a friendship which formed one of 
his first enjoyments." 




ALONG THE EASTERN WALL. 

LONG this, as well as the other borders of the Ceme- 
tery, numerous stones " cry out of the wall," to pro- 
claim the mortality of our race and commemorate 
some of its individual members ; the same parable of death, 
and the same ''longing, lingering" desire to escape utter 
forgetfulness, being expressed by neighbouring structures 
of a less conspicuous fomu 

Adjoining the Gracie monument appear two altar me- 
morials, one of which tells us of a genial-hearted gentleman, 
John Thorbum, late Postmaster in the Burgh, first Dean of 
the Dumfriesshire Procurators, and one of the best convey- 
ancers of his day. He died 21st August 1867, aged 66. 
The obituary list bears also the following names : Agnes, his 
wife ; Bobert, his father, long in Barnkin, died at Eosebank 
1st December 1848, aged 74; Mary Swan, his mother; 
John, his grandfather, also tenant of Barnkin, died 18th 
April 1792, aged 43 ; Isabella Donaldson, wife of the latter; 
her father John Donaldson, who died 12th January 1767, 
aged 48; aud his spouse Margaret Tait. Mr. Donaldson 
also held the farm of Barukin, and of him it is said on the 
monument, he was ''an affectionate father and a loving 
husband." 

Jonah Nicholson, who preceded "William Gunyon in the 
tobacco-vending line, his wife Mary Carruthers, and two of 
their young children, are commemorated by a stone of the 
same type. He died 1st July 1780, aged 54. To their 
daughter-in-law a similar stone is devoted, which bears the 
following epitaph : 

'*In memory of Agnes Haining, spouse to James Nicholson, tobac- 
conist in Dumfries, who departed this life the eighteenth of May one 
thousand eight hundred years. She died at the age of twenty-eight, was 
the mother of seven children, six of whom survive to deplore with 
infant tears the loss of an affectionate mother ; whilst their dis- 
consolate father mourns the loss of an endearing wife and a firm 
and steady friend. To the unaffected piety whidi forms the 



88 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

Christifin she added the umTenal benevolence th&t oonstitntes the 
Friend of humankind. In life she was esteemed, and in death she 
was lamented, by all who knew her.'* 

All these memorials are but slightly removed from '' The 
Poet's Comer ;" and two or three others^ which seem suit- 
ably placed in the same neighbourhood, remain to be noticed. 
One of them is the stately family monument of Mr. George 
Dunbar, shewing a blank in the panel, which we hope will 
long remain unoccupied with his name. Dunbar Terrace, 
Langlands, and other structures which beautify the town, 
afford enduring proofs of his enterprise ; and for half a 
century or more he has been one of our most useful and re- 
spected citizens. The names of four of Mr. Dunbar's 
children are inscribed on the monument, Janet who died at 
22, and the others in childhood ; and near by rises a head- 
stone in memory of his grandson, infant child of David and 

Helen Dunbar, bearing the following verse : 

** Why should we grieve for thee, sweet child, 
Who wert so fair an earthly flower — 
Nipt in the bud, by Angels wiled 
To blossom in a heavenly bower." 

These lines were penned by the mourning father, the Poet 
of Home Life, himself translated to the '' better land« on 
the 23d of June 1873. 

A table tombstone in front bears the names of Thomas 
Dunbar, Deacon of the Squaremen, died 20th March 1805, 
aged 52; of his spouse Janet Johnston (parents of Mr. G. 
Dunbar) ; and of their children James, who died at Cape Coast, 
Africa, when aged 19, Janet when 36, David, a distinguished 
sculptor, died 12th August 1866, aged 74. Within the porch 
of St. MichaePs Church there is seen the beautiful figure of 
a sleeping child, cut by the artist before his hand had lost 
its cunning, and before his eyes were sealed in the sleep of 
death. This is a copy by him of a work which he executed 
in early life, and for which, among other honours, he was 
made a member of the Koyal Academy of Carrara. During 
his long professional career, Mr. D. Dunbar produced 
numerous studies from the antique, busts from life, a statue 
of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, which adorns the town of Lang- 
holm ; and by instituting a series of art exhibitions, two of 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 89 

which were held in Dumfries, he did much to foster the 
sesthetic faculty among his fellow-countrymen. 

Next to the Jackson monument, rises a neat one, on the 
wall, in memory of Robert Wilson, who shared with the 
Primroses and Watts in the tanning business of the district. 
Dying 25th June 1807, aged 77, it is said of him, " He lived 
respected and died regretted." A lengthened obituary follows, 
embracing Mary Bobson, his spouse ; their daughter Jane ; 
her husband, Thomas Crosbie, merchant, died 14th May 1818, 
aged 56 ; the family of the last named parent pair : " Sarah 
[an infant], Robert, Mary Ann [Mrs. Macminn], William, 
Jessie [Mrs. Richardson], Robina, Thomas, Archibald." 

We next reach a very neat mural edifice, sacred to the 
memory of James Halliday, builder, who died at Craigs 
23d September 1854, aged 43. 

Neighbouring it stands a massive structure, commemo- 
rating Robert Paterson of Nunfield, an opulent octogenarian, 
died 25th January 1870 ; also his wife, Margaret Rimmer, 
who died a few years afterwards, in her eightieth year ; four 
of their children, cut off when infants ; his father, James 
Paterson, ironmonger, died 26th April 1831, aged 72 ; his 
mother, Margaret Moore ; and eight children of the latter : 
Agnes died at 13, Margaret at 17, William at 19, Jane at 22, 
Elizabeth at 30, and three who died in infancy. 

With feelings akin to veneration we survey an adjoining 
monument, raised near the wall, resembling the Jackson one, 
only that the cross which forms its apex is smaller and more 
florid. It rises "Sacred to the memory of Francis Shortt, 
Esq., born 11th September 1754, died 19th December 1839." 
This suggestive sentence with which the inscription opens 
will recall to many of our local readers the dignified figure 
of a Scottish gentleman who, though not exactly of the olden 
time, was yet in many respects of the eighteenth century 
type, and whose head was clear, and heart warm, and step 
elastic, though the snows of five-and-eighty winters crowned 
his head. Before him there had passed a wonderful 
panorama of changes, both national and provincial, which 
had been ^photographed as it were on his inner eye ; and it is 



90 MBMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

recorded of him that in his latest days he -was "a walking 
cydopsedia" of local events. For manj jears he acted aa 
Town-Clerk of the Buxgh, aad he spent the autumn of his 
long and useful life in happy retirement at Courance. The 
name of his spouse, Bridget Smith, and of their two sods, 
Thomas and Andrew, are also cut upon the stone — ^ihe 
former of whom, ^'a physician to the forces," died on the 4th 
of March 1845 ; and the latter, a lieutenant in the 11th 
Begiment, N.I., Bombay, was killed in an engagement with 
the Arabs at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, in November 
1820, when only 20 years of age. 

An inscription on the plinth stating that this is the burial- 
place of Captain James Ewart, who died at Nunholm 29th 
January 1772, aged 60, and of Ann Jardine, his wife, has 
been recently removed ; and the following names been added 
to the obituary list upon the stone : Major-General John 
Macourtie Shortt, third son of Francis, died at Folkestone, 
9th February 1866, aged 63 ; and Flora Lucy, "the dearly- 
beloved wife '' of Colonel A. Y. Shortt, of H.M. Staff Corps, 
Bombay, died 27th August 1876, aged 32. 

Perhaps there is no more graceful memorial structure in 
the whole yard than the one alongside of Mr. Shortfs, which 
is erected on the wall. It consists of a plinth, base, and long 
tapering shaft, with urn at the top, all very finely propor- 
tioned. A marble tablet on the west side bears the names 
of John Aitken, Sheriff-Substitute of Dumfriesshire, died 
16th September 1795, aged 68 ^ his spouse, Ann Hay ; and 
their daughter Jean. On the north side appears the name 
of another daughter, Mary, spouse of David Anderson, 
Examiner of his Majesty's Customs, died 10th April 1808, 
aged 49. 

Whose monument can that be, the top of which is barely 
seen rising above the wall at this point, with no words visible 
to tell who lies below ? Tall trees, that were meant to be tiny 
shrubs, rise before it, so close and high that its commemo* 
rative design is almost defeated ; and it is with some difficulty 
we ascertain that the hidden tombstone is of a stately Grecian 
design, and that it is dedicated to the memory of one who was 



ICXHORIALS OF ST. KICKAXJJb, 91 

lADg our most influential local man, if not '^the oba^ired of 
all observers" — ^Provost Staig. He was first chosen chief' 
magistrate in 1783, and seven times afterwards ; his role 
altogether extending over twenty years. Not only was he 
municipal head of the Burgh for that lengthened period, 
but he was also, as representative of the Bank of Scotland, 
a great monetary magnate for fully forty years. He wa« 
shrewd, pawkie, intelligent, fond of power and popularity ; 
and in justice to him it must be added that much of his 
great influence was used to promote the public weal. A 
notice of Provost Staig, published in the Dumfrie8 Magazine 
shortly after his death, states that *' he was a main pillar in 
the building and oiganizing of the Dumfries Academy;'' 
that "after unwearied exertions and correspondence with 
the Postmaster-General,'' he established a mail coach com- 
munication between Edinburgh, Dumfries, and Portpatrick 
in 1805 ; that he zealously promoted the building of the 
New Quay and of the New Bridge ; and that many other 
minor improvements were "carried through during his ad- 
ministration." He died, as we learn from the monument, 
"on the 21st of October 1826, in the 84th year of his age." 
The monument was first erected, however, in memory of his 
second daughter, Janet or Jessie, who died in 1801, and of 
his spouse, Lilias Stewart, a member of the old family of 
Shambelly, who died in 1809. On the plinth of the monu- 
ment appears the name of John Staig, collector of customs, 
son of Provost Staig, who died at his father's age, 30th May 
1856. 

Nothing is said in the principal inscription of the beauty, 
virtue, and accomplishments possessed to a rare extent by 
Jessie Staig; but this omission is of little moment, seeing 
that they find a place in a more permanent record, the poetry 
of Bums. When the lady recovered from a fever, under the 
care of a distinguished physician, the bard immortalised her 
in the epigram : 

** Maxwell, if merit here yon crave, 
That merit I deny. 
Tou save fair Jessie from the grave I — 
An angel could not die." 



92 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

And when Miss Staig was being courted by Major William 
Miller, younger of BaJswinton, to whom she was afterwards 
married, Bums again made her the heroine of his strains, 
declaring that her equal would not be found were all 
Bcotland sought over, and that 

** Grace, beauty, and elegance fetter her lover. 
And maidenly modesty fixes the chain." 

And again, 

*^ have sits in her smile, a wizard ensnaring ; 
Enthroned in her een, he delivers his law, 
And still to her charms she alone is a stranger — 
Her modest demeanour's the jewel of a* ! 

Neither the highest medical skill, nor the spell of poetic 
genius used on the lady's behalf, nor the amulet of her own 
loveliness, could keep her from being the victim of an early 
death, as, after a brief experience of wedded bliss, she ex- 
pired at the age of 26. 

The last of the edifices on the eastern wall commemorates 
Robert Donald of Summerfield, died 26th October 1809, aged 
84 ; Nicholas Hunter, his spouse ; Mary Lewis, wife of 
William M'Lellan of High Kelton, died in Edinburgh 22d 
June 1836 ; Georgina Milligan Johnston, died June 1811 ; 
Robert D. M'Lellan, M.D., died 29th December 1847, aged 
43. A table monument in front bears the name of the 
above William M'Lellan of High Kelton, a highly re- 
spected gentleman, who died at fourscore, 9th April 1854 ; 
also the name of his son Samuel, a youth of 17. 

Between the mural monuments and the footpath west, 
there are about sixty other memorials, chiefly headstones 
and tables, those of the former kind bearing the following 
names and dates : Serjeant William Crichton of the Dumfries 
Militia, died 11th May 1837, aged 66, with Jean Pearson, his 
spouse, and five children — Frances, who died at 34, William 
at 28, and three others, cut off in infancy ; William Frazer^ 
long a respectable bookseller in the Burgh, died 30th April 
1832, aged 45 ; John M'George, merchant, died 1st June 
1836, aged 76, "erected by the legatees in memory of an 
aJQfectionate uncle;" David Gibson, farmer, Jennygill of 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 93 

Craigs^ died 24th January 1856, aged 65, with Margaret 
Wright, his spouse, and three children, including John, who 
died at 17 ; five children of William Gk>rdon, tobacconist, all 
summoned away when quite young ; James Norris, gardener, 
died 28th May 1837, aged 57, with Mary Thomson, his 
spouse, Janet, their daughter, who died at ^1 — ^the same 
inscription recording the death of Mrs Norris's sister Eliza- 
beth, wife of Andrew Farm, died 10th December 1869, aged 
71, and of two of their sons, who died in boyhood ; Penelope 
Johnstone, died 8th May 1839, aged 43, spouse of William 
Boss, long a respected member of the Tailors' Incorporation, 
— ^the death-record including his children, Margaret who died 
at 34, John at 17 ; and his second wife, Sarah Herries, who 
died at 60 ; a worthy man, James Welsh, tanner, died 27th 
June 1857, aged 68, with Jane M*Caa, his wife, who lived to 
be 83, and Marion, their daughter, who died at 42 ; James 
Currie, of the General Post-Office, died 17th August 1840 ; 
Thomas Nicholas, commercial traveller, who, passing to " the 
undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns,*' 
died in King's Arms Hotel, 20th June 1840, aged 56. 

Among the Cordwainers' Craft there used to be many 
Becks, some of whom slumber in this vicinity. On a head- 
stone we read of Alexander Beck, died 22d January 1834, aged 
68, A Tin Campbell his wife, his daughter-in-law Margaret 
Miller, and several youthful children. The husband of the 
latter, a second Alexander Beck, who died 2d November 1854, 
aged 59, is named on the other side of the stone ; also four of 
their offspring, one of whom died when a child, Isabella died 
at 31, Mary at 24, Annie, wife of William Thomson, died 
when 23 in Singapore. A second headstone commemorates 
Margaret Smith, wife of James Beck, died 18th October 1867, 
aged 32, and their infant daughter Jane. 

Numerous altar>stones neighbour the foregoing, marking 
the spot where rest the following merchants and others : 
James Miller, died 4th April 1810, aged 78, with his spouse 
Elizabeth Muir, and an infant son ; James M'William, died 
19th Septembei' 1790, with his spouse Janet Dickson, his 
daughter Elizabeth, her hui^band James Gunnyon, innkeeper. 



94 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL'S. 

Newabbey, the latter of whom died at that village 13th 
Aagust 1836, aged 62, several of their children who died 
young, and Mary Gunnyon, who also died at Newabbey, 4th 
November 1872, aged 57; Andrew Black, innkeeper, died 
26th March 1794, aged 68, with his two wives, Janet Miller 
and Jean Selkirk ; William M'Naught, also an innkeeper, 
died 8th June 1802, aged 43, with his spouse Janet Grerran, 
their son John, died 20th August 1822, aged 42, and 
daughter-in-law Isabella Hayland ; Biddell M'Naught, died 
23d February 1802, aged 36, with his wife Mary Welsh ; 
James Beid, died 20th May 1775, aged 51, who is repre- 
sented as saying to his 'Bridow Helen Davidson, who is also 
named in the inscription : , 

" Grieve not for me, my sand is ran. 
The Lord hath called, His will be done ; 
When Christ appears I shall arise, 
Unto that life that never dies !" 

On a neat little table tombstone we £nd the name 
of Andrew M'Morine, painter, who is well remem- 
bered by many friends as a man of wonderful self- 
culture and metaphysical acumen. He died on the 10th of 
July 1850, at the early age of 42. Three children, all of 
whom died very young, are also mentioned in the inscription. 

An infant son of William Hunter, merchant, who saw but 
one summer, that of 1770, lies cradled below a similar tomb- 
stone, which still prolongs the wail and reiterates the hope 
of his parents, in the following words : 

*' The tender branch- that sleepeth here 
Was much beloved by parents dear ; 
Few were his days, snort was his race, 
But heaven, we hope, *s his dwelling-place," 

Of an old Excise officer, who must have had many a tussle 
with the bold adventurers who "ran" smuggled goods up 
the Solway, we find a memento on an adjoining table : it 
tells us of Leonard Fleming, Supervisor, who died 20th 
March 1775, at the venerable age of 83 ; also of his spouse 
Dorothy, whose own surname was the singular one of Satte- 
thwaite ; and of their daughter Margaret, who died at 65. 

John Coltart of Areeming, died 11th January 1805, aged 
69, and the following children are commemorated on an ad- 



MEMC^IALS OF BT. HICHAEL's. 95 

joining table : Joan, who died at 15, Mary at 20, Marion at 
30, Jean at 30, John, a writer (date of age and death left 
blank) ; Mary Newall, the writer's wife ; also Barbara, sister 
of Mr. Ooltart, senior, who died " at an advanced age,'' 18th 
April 1816, and "whose upright conduct," it is stated, "and 
goodness of heart were equalled by few, surpassed by none." 

Robert Grainger, long a contemporary of the venerable 
Town-Clerk, Mr. Shortt, lies opposite to him, under a 
humble table tombstone. A tailor by trade, he during his 
latter years became a china-merchant, which business he pro- 
secuted with success. Mr. Grainger was often chosen Con- 
vener of the Seven Trades, and lived respected to the ripe age 
of 85, his death occurring on the 10th of February 1845. 
When he was in his early prime (1806\ and the Incorporated 
Crafts were in all their glory, he presented them with an 
enormous punch-bowl (capable of containing ten gallons) — ^a 
present that was quite en regie at that convivial period. It 
Btill survives, while the donor and the recipients, with 
hundreds of those who quaffed its contents on great gala 
occasions, have drained dry the cup of life itself, and here 
lie like clay that has not yet been fashioned into shape by 
the hands of the potter. 

The stone commemorates also Sibella M'Math, wife of 
the deceased, who died in 1838. Both husband and spouse 
belonged to " the people called Methodists," and of her it is 
said "she died in the full triumph of faith." A prose 
enumeration of her. virtues is followed by the subjoined 
epitaph in verse : 

** A soul prepared needs no delays : 
The summons comes, the saint obeys ; 
Swift was her flight, and short her road : 
She closed her eyes, and saw her God. 
The flesh rests here till Jesus come, 
And claims the treasure from the tomb." 

We meet with some singular names on another altar- 
stone ; Jean Bean, died 27th December 1780, aged 41, and 
Janet, her sister, died 23d December 1815, aged 73, daugh- 
ters of Thomas Bean of Auchenhay ; and Dorcas Christian, 
wife of David Bean of Meikle-Frieth, died 26th December 



06 MBKORIALS OF ST. XICHAEL's. 

1809, a^ied 70. William Sandilanda, mason, died 5th Feb- 
ruary 1833, aged 67, is oonmiemorated by a similar stone, 
with his two wives, Annie Wilkinson and Janet Milligan, 
and his son Bobert, who died at 17. Another rises in 
memory of John Dickson, who plied his needle at the old 
protected trade of staymaking, died 11th Febroary 1809^ 
aged 45 ; of his wife, Alison Welsh, and three of their off- 
spring ; of his sister-in-law, Mary Howat, wife of David 
Dickson, died 6th March 1792, aged 56, and three of their 
children. With head low among others, lies George 
Walker, about the last of the old craft in Dumfries who 
made ''beavers" for the heads of the people. He died at 
the venerable age of 87, on 13th March 1866 ; his spouse, 
Hannah M'Kay, and three children — an infant daughter, 
Joseph who died at 39, and Elizabeth at 44 — ^resting beside 
him. 

A neighbouring plot is occupied by three venerable altar 
monuments belonging to the Fergusons of Haugh. They 
commemorate Bobert Ferguson, ''a man of strict integrity 
and warm in his friendship," who died 15th June 1804, aged 
84 ; his wife, Agnes Grierson ; their daughters, Grizel who 
died at 25, and Sarah at 27 : of whom it is said, in the in- 
scription, 

" Qod plants his flow'rs at his own time, 

And plucks at any age ; 
Wherefore should parents then repine 

When they're cadl*d off the stage ?" 

Still among the same class of table-stones, we find a stately 
one dedicated to an enterprising hosiery manufacturer, Mr. 
James Dinwiddie, who was for some time also a member of 
the Town Council He died 11th August 1859, aged 55. 
Three of his sons are named in the inscription : James 
Paterson who died at 24, Adam Corrie at the same age, and 
Bobert at 35 ; also a daughter, who died in infancy. Near 
by, two monuments rise in the burial plot of James Corson, 
baker and brewer (father of Provost Corson), who died 16th 
January 1831, aged 63 ; his wives, Grizel Smith and Jean 
Fors3rth, with four children, being named with him upon 
the tablets. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 97 

In a railed compartment along the wall lie several mem- 
bers of an old Annandale house, whose head, Buther, during 
the days of David I., gave name to a parish, Caer-Ruther, 
corrupted to Carruthers, and now annexed to the parish of 
Middlebie. A plain headstone, with gilt letters that keep it 
from being commonplace, commemorates "Henrietta Car- 
ruthers, eldest daughter of William Aikman Carruthers, 
Esq. of Domiont," who died in Edinburgh, 27th December 
1861, aged 66, and " other members of the family, who are 
interred here," these being mentioned thus vaguely, without 
so much as having their names recorded. For the parish- 
ioners of St. Michael's, and especially the poorer portion of 
them, this monument possesses no ordinary interest, seeing 
that the special missionary services enjoyed by them since 
1862 are due to Miss Henrietta Carruthers. Pious and 
benevolent during her earthly sojourn, she left her wordly 
means to promote in perpetuity the good works in which she 
took delight ; a codicil to her will embodying a bequest of 
j6l200, to maintain " an efficient missionary of the Gospel of 
Christ, one truly evangelical and properly qualified for the 
office, whose whole and undivided time shall be devoted to 
his missionary labours in the said parish." The admini- 
strators of the trust are the minister of St. Michael's, the 
Sheriff of Dumfriesshire and his Substitute, and the Provost 
of Dumfries. 

Within another neighbouring enclosure appear a headstone 
and table. The former commemorates Robert Howat, mer- 
chant, died 5th April 1828 (no age given) ; Anne Jardine, 
his wife ; two of their children ; " Mrs. Jessie Stewart, relict 
of William Stewart, Esq. of Shambellie," died 25th June 
1863, and buried in Sweetheart Abbey, where the dust of its 
foundress, Devorgilla, was also laid ; Mrs. Margaret Biggar, 
relict of Robert Biggar, writer, died at St. Andrews, 1st 
September 1867, aged 80. The altar-stone is in memory of 
Thomas Lawson, preacher of the Gospel, died 19th February 
1779 (date of age illegible) ; David, son of the above Robert 
Howat, died 6th January 1811, aged 25, and other members 
of the family. 

a 



98 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

A tall stately pillar, oveiiookiiig all the neighbouring 
stones, rises in this section to commemorate William M'- 
Cracken of Lochvale, writer in Domfries, whose death took 
])lace on the 2d of July 1818, when in his 62d year, and of 
Clementina, his wife, who long predeceased him, at the age 
of 30. In order to make assoranoe against oblivion doubly 
sure, little oval plates of brass, sunk in the plinth, recorded 
their names as well as the stone tablets ; but one of them is 
so disfigured that it is illegible, and the other has been torn 
away ! Of Mrs. M'Cracken^s brief married life and its re- 
sults it is pithily said : " She was near two years a wife ; had 
two sons,' William and James ; the youngest predeceased her 
32 days, the eldest survived her 22 hours, and was buried 
with her.'' 

Near the above, rise a neat pillar of Dalbeattie granite, 
"In memory of John Hamiltou, r.R.A.S., editor of the 
Maming Star, bom in Dumfries, 29th September 1821, died 
at Windermere, 14th October 1860," and of his wife, Mary 
Blaind, who, dying at Aylesbury, is here interred. From 
being a printer^s apprentice iu the Herald office, and after- 
wards reporter for that journal and then for the Statkdardy 
Mr. Hamilton became editor of an Aylesbury newspaper. 
He managed it with such ability and success as to attract the 
notice of some of the 'Free-trade party, at whose instance he 
went into the busy field of London journalism ; but the ex- 
active labour which devolved upon him as conductor of the 
Empire, and ultimately of the Star, cut short his brilliant 
career at the early age of 39. The inscription states that the 
stone was " erected by his colleagues and other friends who 
admired his abilities, loved him for his many virtues, and 
highly esteemed his public labours/* 

In a neatly kept plot, overlooked by the pillar, lie some of 
Mr. Hamilton's forebears ; his father, William Hamilton, » 
very decent, well-informed man, by trade a bookbinder, died 
13th December 1833, aged 42 ; his mother, Catherine Ar- 
lington, with several of their other children; his grand- 
father, also named William, Deacon of the Shoemakers, died 
22d December 1815, aged 68 ; the Deacon's spouse, Jean 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 99 

M^Math^ with several of their offspring : also Grace Martin 
Towler, "wife of the late John Hamilton, ofBcer, Boyal 
Navy," died 16th January 1859, aged 69. 

Another older pyramid of red sandstone rears its head close 
by with an oval marble tablet dedicated to Robert MacDowall, 
died 10th March 1782, aged 19 ; and William MacDowall of 
Gategill, died 22d April 1788, aged 31. The monument is of 
a beautiful design, though, half-hidden by a neighbouring 
stone, it cannot be seen to advantage. 

Several of the Thorbums of Kelton, belonging to the same 
family as the Bamkin Thorbums already noticed, lie in this 
neighbourhood, their names appearing as follows on a very 
stately edifice : William Thorbum, died 14th August 1790, 
aged 81, with Agnes Bichardson his spouse ; James, their 
son, died 16th November 1830, aged 72 ; John, an S.S.C., 
Edinburgh, died 10th February 1833, aged 59 ; and Robert, 
captain in the Dumfriesshire Militia, died 29th October 1855, 
aged 80. 

Early in April 1807 there was an imposing military display 
at a spot which is marked by a headstone bearing the sub- 
joined inscription, with other lines that are now iQegible : 

"Sacred to the memory of Sergeant Wm. Wright, of the Royal 
Westmoreland Militia, who departed this life on the 30th day of 
March 1807, aged 37 years. The regiment, to eviace their esteem for 
him while Hving and to perpetuate him now dead, have erected this 
stone to his memory, conceiving it the only way of proying how 
much they deplore and lament the loss of an honest, faithful, and| 
worthy comrade." 

Overlooked by several imposing fabrics, lies the humble 
and neglected memento of a lady regarding whom we know 
little, though her husband. Collector John Mitchell, was 
closely and lovingly a^ociated with the national bard, as his 
superior Excise officer at Ellisland and Dumfries. About six 
months before Bums died, he addressed to Mr. Mitchell the 
well-known epistle, intimating that " One pound one, I sairly 
want it;" and it may be looked upon as certain that the 
request was readily complied with. We do not know where 
the " friend of the poet, tried and leal,'' found a grave ; but 
the memorial stone which bears his honoured name has 



100 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

tumbled down from its supports, and we should like much 
to see it set up anew. Below the prose inscription we read 
the foUowing exulting lines, which are by no means out of 
place, even though the slab that bears them looks dishonoured 
and forlorn : 

** Death wounds to cure : we fall, we rise, we reign ; 
Spring from our fetters ; fasten in the skies, 
Where blooming Eden withers in our sight : 
The King of Terrors is the Prince of Peace.'' 

Near by, close to the Mausoleum of Bums, rises a monu- 
mental table in memory of John M'Ejnnell, for some time 
bookseller in Dumfries, a man of worth, intelligence, and 
great mechanical ingenuity. Long prior to his death he 
resided in London, that he might promote the business 
success of one of his inventions, a celebrated ventilating ap- 
paratus, which is still in much request. Mr. M'Kinnell died 
on the 15th of Mai-ch 1867, aged 63. The stone also com- 
memorates his wife, Agnes Brydone, and their daughter 
Margaret. Under another table lies one whose pictorial 
" counterfeit presentment " fittingly adorns the Court-house 
of Maxwelltown — James Shortridge, long the popular provost 
of that burgh, died 20th June 1841, aged 64 ; also his spouse, 
Susan M'Lauchlan, and their infant son. A third altar-stone 
bears the names of John Fraser, merchant, died 25th Febru- 
ary, 1793, aged 81 ; of his spouse, Sarah Bimie, and several 
of their children. 

Agnes Lee, wife of Charles Graham, died 23d November 
1859, aged 65 ; four of their children, including George, rail- 
way clerk, died at 38, and four of his offspring, are com- 
memorated on a handsome adjoining structure : it is stated 
of him that "He lived beloved and died regretted.** In 
front rises a stone ou which Lieutenant Charles Grepp 
Robinson, R.N., bereft of two infant children, records his 
loss and source of consolation : 

" Rest, my beloved boys. You are called away ere this world's sin 
could tarnish your bright hue." 



OH-A^PTBR ■VIII. 
THE MAUSOLEUM. 

"XfJj^THEN the dramatists are about to briDg a great 

^^^^^ conqueror or hero king upon the stage, they 

•"^ prepare the spectators for his advent by a grand 

burst of music, 

" Sound the trumpets, beat the drums, 
See the conqueiing hero comes !" 

But we have only to exclaim 

^^ Hie Jacet Robert Burns I" 

In order to draw forth general heart-loyalty and reverence 
devout, as we point to the palatial tomb at the south-east 
comer of the Cemetery, " fit homage of earth's proudest isle," 
given to the bard-peasant and the peerless prince of lyrical 
poets. Of aU the monuments raised in honour of departed 
greatness throughout the world there is none whose shape is 
so familiar to the public eye as this, except perhaps the 
Waverley monument in Edinburgh, and we may safely say 
there is none that awakens such a deep feeling of interest. 
It is in the form of a Grecian temple : it would possibly have 
been more appropriate if a design in the Scotch baronial style 
had been adopted ; yet. Burns, as stated in the inscription on 
his bust at the Industrial School in the street which bears his 
name, was the " Poet of mankind " as well as of his country, 
and it is perhaps better therefore that a tomb of cosmopolitan 
type should enshrine his dust. 

Burns resided in Dumfries from the close of 1791 till his 
death on the 21st of July 1796. The attractive spell which 
genius such as his bestows iipon all the material things 
among which it tabernacles was thus showered down in no 
stinted measure upon the ancient Burgh. More especially 
did the Burial-ground whose memorials we are describing 
become sacred above all other cemeteries, to Scotchmen at 
least, when it received within its bosom the " priceless heri- 
tage" of his remains. Prior to 1796 the Churchyard was 



102 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

no ordinary place of sepulture : after the sad summer of that 
year missed the music of his songs^ and then shed dew-drops 
above his lowly bed, old St. Michael's acquired a world-wide 
interest, becoming indeed one of "The Delphian vales, the 
Falestines, the Meccas of the mind i* the hallowing influence 
acquiring fresh intensity when^ nineteen years afterwards^ the 
goodly structure now under notice was erected over the 
poet's grave. 

The movement, which brought about such a magnificent 
result, had a very small beginning, and it was originated 
by the following circular, now published, we believe, for the 
first time, "written by Mr. William Grierson in company 
with Mr. John Syme :" 

Sib, — It has long been a snbject of regret, and indeed a reflection 
against Scotland, that nothing yet has been done to perpetuate the 
memorj, and do honour to the genius of its native bard, Robert 
Burns, by marking the spot where his ashes rest. There can be no 
doubt but that, if a public subscription was opened, under the 
management of a respectable committee, a very uberal sum would 
soon Be procured, in aid of that already promised from abroad, to 
erect a Monument at his grave, in St. Michaers Churchyard. Dum- 
fries. A few of the friends and admirers of Burns having lately 
taken the affair into consideration, concluded that the most proper 
method would be to invite a meeting of such gentlemen as might be 
disposed to promote the measure, to take place in the George Inn, on 
Thursday, the 16th December, at two o'clock afternoon, in order to 
name a committee, and to adopt such resolutions as may appear best 
calculated to carry into effect so desirable an object. It is therefore 
hoped you will find it convenient to attend the meeting on the above 
mentioned day. 

Dumfries, 29th Novr., 1813.* 

To the appeal thus made only eighteen gentlemen responded 
literally by appearing at the meeting ou the 16th of Decem- 
ber, but it touched the chords of the national heart ; and 
those who made up the number were all influential persons, 
including John Syme, who fittingly presided as the attached 
friend of Burns ; William Miller of Dalswinton ; "William 
Grierson ; Henry Duncan, the accomplished minister of 
Euthwell ; Thomas Duncan, minister of the New Church 

♦ Dr. Grierson, scm of the late secretary to the Bums's Mausoleum 
Fund, kindly favoured us with a copy of this circular, and also with 
the loan of a beautiful coloured engraving of Mr. Hunt's d^gn for 
the Mausoleum, both which, with many other Bums's relics, enrich 
the Doctor's well-known Museum at Thomhill. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 103 

(bow Greyfriars') ; William M'Lellan of Keltonhead ; 
Gabriel Eichardson, ex-Provost, with whom the poet long 
lived on intimate terms ; and Adam Eankine, who had always 
a shoulder ready to put to the proverbial wheel when it 
required a push forward in the right direction. The Rev. H. 
(afterwards Dr.) Duncan and Mr. Grierson were appointed 
secretaries, the main burden of the business, however, de- 
volving on the latter, who gave his services with unbounded 
enthusiasm. Soon money for the fund began to flow in 
liberally from all quarters — ^from abroad as weU as from 
home, and from "huts where poor men lie" not less than 
from the x)alaces of nobles and kings. In due time several 
competent designs for the memorial edifice were received 
by the comihittee. The one which they selected was fur- 
nished by Mr. T. F. Hunt of London, who, emulating 
Bums's own unselfishness, refused to take a farthing for his 
work, considering that the honour of associating his name 
with the national bard in such a way was recompense enough. 
As originally drawn, the design bore four oblong, graceful 
sarcophagi placed over those parts of the entablature of the 
Mausoleum that touch each of the twin pillars by which the 
dome and its accompaniments are supported ; but these stone 
chests were omitted, and we think wisely, as they have a 
somewhat heavy aspect, and if they had been introduced 
they would have interfered with the noble simplicity of the 
structure. 

Burns, in the dedication of his first volume, says : " The 
Poetic Genius of my country found me, as the prophetic bard 
Elijah did Elisha, at the plough ; and threw her inspiring 
mantle over me." It was rightly thought that a marble em- 
bodiment of this fine idea would form a fitting ornament for 
the interior ; and Signer Tumerelli, an Italian artist, was 
entrusted with the task. As he proceeded with the figures 
they were critically inspected by a committee, including the 
poet's brother Gilbert, who expressed himself satisfied with 
the appearance of the inspiring divinity and the airy light- 
ness of her attire ; and, guided by his correct eye and re- 
tentive memory, the sculptor (who had, we believe, never 



104 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

seen the poet) was enabled to render the principal figure 
wonderfully faithful. Though the statuary is not of the 
highest class, it gratifies all but fastidious hypercritics by 
the expressive way in which it tells its momentous tale to 
admiring eyes and sympathetic hearts. The foundation-stone 
of the Mausoleum was laid on the 5th of June 1815, and the 
building was completed in the following September, the 
entire cost amounting to about £1500. 

When the tomb was finished, it was still an imposing 
casket without its congenial gem, or like a gorgeous throne 
without an occupant. The solemn duty of conveying the dust 
of Bums from the north-east corner to the new home pro- 
vided for it by the nation was devolved upon four gentlemen 
— Mr. William Grierson, the secretary to the committee ; 
Mr. James Thomson, superintendent of the monument ; Mr. 
Milligan, builder ; and Mr. James Bogie, gardener, Ter- 
raughty. We have never seen any adequate reason assigned 
for having this delicate, yet highly honourable, process of 
exhumation and reinterment done privily and as it were by 
stealth. However, a secret, quiet mode of procedure, which 
had some slight advantages of its own, was resolved upon ; 
and accordingly the above named gentlemen, an hour or two 
before "the witching time" of midnight, on the 19th of 
September 1815, hied to the spot pointed out in a previous 
chapter, and, aided by a small body of workmen, laid bare 
the earthen bed in which the poet, after " life's, fitful fever," 
had "slept well" since 1796. Beside him lay the remains 
of his two young sons. Maxwell Bums' and Francis Wallace 
Bums. The coffins of the boys were nearly entii-e, and, 
after being placed in shells, were carried to the Mausoleum 
vault; but in the case of the bard "the chest that had 
neither key nor lock" had been already tampered with by 
the rifling fingers of decay. At first sight the venerated 
contents seemed marvellously perfect, suggesting the idea of 
one who had just sunk into the slumber of death, the lordly 
forehead of the dreamless sleeper still rising arched and high, 
the "dome of thought" covered with hair stOl dark as a 
raven's wing, and the teeth retaining all their original re- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 105 

golaritj and whiteness. " The scene," we are told, " was so 
imposing that most of the workmen stood bare and un- 
covered, and at the same time felt their frames thrilling 
with some indefinable emotion as they gazed on the ashes 
of him whose fame is as wide as the world itself. But the 
eflfect was momentary ; for when they proceeded to insert a 
shell or case below the coffin, the head separated from the 
trunk, and the whole body, with the exception of the bones, 
canmbled into dust.*'* Ere yet the advancing mom had 
empearled the east, the precious relics on which the gloaming 
of the day and the lamps carried by the party had faintly 
glimmered, were hid from sight in the darkness of their 
new tenement. 

Not finally, however, as on the night preceding the burial 
of " Bonnie Jean " (31st March 1834), the remains of the poet 
were viewed by a pai-ty of gentlemen, including Provost 
Murray, Mr. Archibald Hamilton, writer, Rector M'Millan, 
Mr. James Bogie, Mr. Andrew Crombie, builder, Mr. John 
M'Diarmid of the Courier, and Dr. Archibald Blacklock, who 
visited the vault in order to obtain a cast of the skull for a 
phrenological purpose. Dr. Blacklock in reporting upon the 
subject states that the cranium was found in a high state of 
preservation, the bones of the face and palate being also 
sound ; " and some small portions of black hair with a very 
few gray hairs intermixed, were observed while detaching 
some extraneous matter from the occiput." The skull was 
carried away to the house of Mr. Kerr, plasterer (in North 
Queensberry Street, now occupied by his son Mr. "William 
M'Diarmid Kerr) and a plaster matrix was taken of it by his 
assistant, Mr. James lS:'aser, afterwards Bailie Fraser.f Two 
or three tiny tresses that had adhered to the napkin in which 

* M'Diarmid's Picture of Dumfries, p. 86. 

f A cast of the skull having been transmitted to the Phrenological 
Society of Edinburgh, Mr. George Combe drew up from it a report on 
the cerebral development of the poet. The cranium was 22^ inches 
in circumference ; irom ear to ear vertically over the top of the head, 
14 inches ; length, 8 inches ; greatest breadth, nearly 6. '* These 
measurements," says Mr. Combe, '* exceed the average of Scotch living 
heads, indudiiig the integumentSf for which four-eighths of an inch 
may be flowed." 



106 MEifOBiALS or ST. hichakl's. 

the craniiim was wrapped were retained, as piioeleaB aoaTeniis 
of the iHustrioiis dead. After being a few hours out of the 
Taolt the skoU was replaced — all the nocturnal operations 
having been completed as the dock of St Michael's chimed 
the hour of one. Tet another time the cranium was rever- 
entially seen and handled hy other visitors to Ihe vault, when 
Boms's eldest aon was boried in May 1857 : little change 
npon it was visible, and before it was redeposited the enclos- 
ing casket of lead was filled with pitch to aecore the preserva- 
tion of the relic for ages to come. 

Mrs. Bums survived her husband thirty-eight years. 
'^When young, she must have been a handsome, comely 
woman, if not indeed a beauty, when the poet saw her for the 
first time, on a bleach-green at Mauchline, engaged like 
Peggy and Jenny at Habbie's Howe f and during her pro- 
tracted widowhood she was much honoured by our com- 
munity, and by hosts of strangers, who came from all parts to 
see her for her husband's sake, and, who if favoured with an 
interview, could not but admire her on her own account, she 
was so artless, warm-hearted, sensible, simple-minded, homely, 
yet refined. Dying on the 26th of March 1834, her Interment 
took place on the 1st of the following month, the immense 
concourse of persons present, and other circumstances con- 
nected with it, reminding many of the poet's funeral 

" So great," says Mr. M'ltiarmid, " was the anxiety to enter 
the Mausoleum that the pressure, in the first instance, occa- 
sioned a slight degree of confusion ; but in a minute or two 
order was restored, and the body lowered slowly and solemnly 
into the family vault. The chief mourners then descended, 
took the stations assigned them, and after everything had 
been adjusted placed the coffin in a grave dug to the depth of 
four feet. Five relatives attended the interment ; viz. — ^Mr 
Robert Bums, eldest son of the poet ; Mr. Robert Armour, 
the widow's brother ; and the husbands of three nieces, the 
Messrs Irving, and Mr. M'Kinnel. But there were other 
chief mourners, and among those we observed Mr Dunlop of 
Southwick, Provost Murray, Dr. John Symons, Mr. Bogie, 
and Mr. M*Diarmid. The grave was covered in a brief space ; 



HEMORIAXiS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 107 

the chief mourners then withdrew; and after everything 
foreign had been removed from the vault, the executors gave 
the necessary directions for restoring the large stone which 
guards the entrance to the tomb of our great national poet. 
As this was a task of considerable labour, hours elapsed 
before it could be completed, and in the interim thousands 
had an opportunity of gratifying their curiosity by taking a 
parting look at the resting-place of genius." 

Of nine children bom by Mrs. Burns— ^five sons and four 
daughters — ^two of the former, and the whole of the latter 
died in infancy. All the three who grew up to man's estate — 
Bobert, the eldest, and who most resembled his father in 
appearance, Lieutenant-Colonel James Glencaim, and Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel William Nicol — ^lived up to or beyond the meas- 
ure of existence allotted by the royal Psalmist ; and when they 
died, they were, with honours due, buried beside their parents. 
Within the high iron railing by which the Mausoleum is 
enclosed, there are severals inscriptions, each of which we 
must copy. A marble tablet on the left bears the following 
record : 



<( I 



This tablet is erected by Major James Glencaim Bums, E.I.C.S., 
to the memory of Sarah Kobinson, his wife, died at Neemuch (East 
Indies), 7fh November 1821, aged 24 years. Jean Isabella, his 
daughter, died at sea, 5th of June 1823. aged 4 years 5 months. 
Robert Shaw, his son, died at Neemuch, 11th of December 1821, aged 
eighteen months. Mary Beckett, his wife, died at Qravesend, Kent, 
13th November 1844, aged 52. 

Lieut -Colonel James G. Bums, bom at Dumfries, 12th August 
1794, died at Cheltenham, 18th Nov. 1865. His remains rest in the 
vault beneath this tablet " 

A companion tablet on the right is thus inscribed : 

**This tablet is erected by lieut -Colonel William Nicol Bums 
E.I.C.S., to the memory of his wife, Catherine Adelaide Crone, who 
died at Kulludghev, in the East Indies, on the 29th of June 1841. 

Colonel WaUam Nicol Burns, bom at Ellisland, 9th April 1791, 
died at Cheltenham, 21st Feby. 1872. His remains rest in the vault 
beneath this tablet." 

Soon after the reinterment of the poet, the original tomb- 
stone placed over his remains by his sorrowing widow was 
laid in the vault ; but afterwards, with better taste, it was 
deposited in front of the sculpture, where it can be readily 



108 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

seen without the risk of being trodden upon. Baldly 
pros£(tLC, yet eloquently simple^ is the inscription : 

" In memory of 

EoBEBT Burns, 

who died the 21st July 1796, 

in the 37th year of his age."* 

This brief notice is the only epitaph^ if such it may be called, 
commemorative of Bums. A grand Latin inscription was 
drawn up, to announce that the Mausoleum had been raised 
''In setemum honorem Roberti Burns, Poetarum, Cale- 
donise ;" but it was never used, and it is just as well, neither 
learned inscription nor popular epitaph being needed by the 
man whose fame has been blazoned over all the world, and 

*' Whose own proud songs, through distant ages sent. 
Shall form at once his dirge and monument." 

Other words upon the stone follow those already quoted, 
to intimate that it was also erected in memory of the poet's 
two boys, 

" Maxwell Bums, who died the 25th April 1799, aged 2 years and 
9 months ; Francis Wallace Bums, who died the 9th July 1803, aged 
14 years." 

The subjoined intimations were added at different periods 
afterwards : 

** Also the remains of Jean Armour, Relict of the Poet, bom Feby. 
1765, died 26th March 1834 ; and Kobert, his eldest son, who died on 
the 14th May 1857, aged 70 years." 

Yet another tablet claims the notice of the visitor before 
he withdraws from the precincts of the poet's shrine. It is 
dedicated to James M'Clure, a faithful friend of Burns, who 
waited as an attendant upon his deathbed, and gave material 
assistance to Cromek when preparing his "Eeliques of 
Bums," published in 1808. A flat stone placed over his 
remains, on the right of the entrance, is thus inscribed : 

** Sacred to the memory of James M'Clure, who died 2d November 
1813, aged 50 years ; a man who by his punctuaUty, his integrity, his 
benevolence, and the uniform uprightness of Ms character, conferred 
respectability on the humble situation of a letter-carrier. He was 
the constant and faithful friend of the Poet Bums, and after his 
death was most active and successful in his endeavours to promote 
the interests of the family. (Pref. Cromek's Reliques). Also, Jean 

* A mistake in the inscription for the 38th year. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 109 

Heughan, his -wife, who died 29th September 1815, aged 60 years. 
Also, Nicholas Heughan. who died 28th July 1837. aged 74 years. Per- 
mitted to be placed here at the request of the Family of the Poet.** 

Within the enclosure of the Mausoleum, two Scotch 
thistles — ^fine specimens of " the symbol dear " — and four tall 
bushes, one at each corner, bearing " green, slender, leaf -clad 
holly boughs," such as crowned the Coila of the poet's vision, 
are appropriately placed ; during summer prime the sward is 
also " pranked " with primroses, " the firstlings of the year,'* 
and other simple flowers cultured or wild ; whOe an um- 
brageous weeping ash furnishes a natural drapery for the 
tomb behind. Among the hundreds of persons from a dis- 
tance who come here annually to oflfer the tribute of admira- 
tion or "pay the meed of a melodious tear," many beg 
earnestly for a memorial twig, or even leaf or tuft of grass, 
from the natural garniture of the poet's grave, and if favoured 
with the same by the keeper, go their way pensive, yet 
rejoicing. One of the best poems ever written in honour of 
Bums was inspired by " viewing the remains of a rose brought 
from AUoway Kirk ;" and who can tell what floods of emo- 
tional feeling have been drawn from the fountains of the 
human heart by these simple mementoes of his sepulchre at 
Dumfries, even after they have become " withered flower and 
l eaf r* 

* Since the completion of the Mausoleum many illustrious men, 
from all parts of the world, have stood beneath its dome, paying 
homage due to the still more illustrious dead. No album has been 
kept, in which their names, with those of other visitors, might have 
been entered ; had there been such it would have been perhaps tbe 
most precious collection of autographs ever made. So far as is 
known, the most distinguished foreigner of our own day who visited 
the shrine was M. Louis Kossuth ; and fortunately a notice of the 
interesting event has been preserved in the local newspapers. When 
all Europe was ringing with the fame of the ex -Governor of Hungary, 
he delivered an eloquent address*in Dumfries on the evening of the 
19th December 1856 ; and next day, before his departure, he, accom- 
panied bv his aide-de-camp. Colonel Ihaz, the Rev. Dr. Julius Wood, 
and Bailie John Payne, proceeded to the Cemetery. " M. Kossuth," 
says the Standards "'entered into the Mausoleum with reverent step, 
and as if absorbed by the intensity of his thoughts. He gazed long 
in pensive sadness at the figures of the ploughman-poet and of Coila, 
and then earnestly conversed with his Hungarian companion in their 
own Magyar tongue, that possibly being the language in which he 
could best give vent to his pent-up feelings. Kossuth at the grave 
of Bums — the patriot chief dropping a tear over the dust of the 



110 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

The house in which Boms died, and which was purchased 
by his family, was for many years prior to 1872 rented by the 
Education Society as a residence for their teacher; and in 
accordance with a settlement made by Colonel William Nicol 
Burns, who died in the spring of that year, the house was 
gifted to the Society, on condition that they should keep it 
and the Mausoleum in good repair. The Dumfries Bums 
Club have also some right of custodiership, not strictly 
defined, over the Mausoleum ; and its keeper, Mr John Tait, 
the sexton of St. MichaePs, pays the club a small yearly 
tribute for the right to show the shrine and levy a small 
charge on visitors; the sum being now fixed at 3d each, 
instead of an undefined gratuity as was formerly the case.* 

With the name of Eobert Burns, that of Jessie Lewars will 
always be associated. Residing with his fellow-exciseman, 
her brother, in St. Michael Street, near the poet's house, she 
made it a second home, her affectionate nature, artless man- 
ners, and acquired accomplishments rendering her a favourite 
guest with its inmates. Bums's "hours of ease" received 
new zest from her society ; she helped to soothe his sorrows 
by playing on the piano those sweet Scotch airs to which 
many of his own lyrics had been lovingly wedded ; and when 
the poet lay on his death-bed, she was to him the " one seraph 
left on earth,'' of which he wrote prophetically in the cele- 
brated epigram penned by him in her praise. Of two other 
epigrams and two songs by Bums, "Oh wert thou in the 

patriot bard ! What a subject for a poet ! Will no lyre awake nnder 
the iDspiration of such a theme ? The illustrious stranger was shewn 
also the tombs of the martyrs, and their story, as recalled to him by 
Dr. Wood, interested him deeply." 

* A meeting of the Dumfries Burns Club was held in the summer 
of 1875, *Uo consider a recommendation by the Magistrates, Heritors, 
and Kirk-session, to impose a charge of .3d. for each person admitted 
to the Mausoleum, and to cancel an existing arrangement by which 
the Club receive £2 annually from the sexton as the rent of the 
Mausoleum. The meeting approved of the uniform charge of 3d., 
but could not agree to cancel the arrangement betwixt the sexton 
and the Club, as they had to pay 2l8. annually for a professional in- 
spection and report on the Mausoleum and Burns's House. They, 
however, agreed to hand the balance of this sum over to the Education. 
Society, to assist in maintaining the Mausoleum in proper repair. — 
Dumfries Courier, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. Ill 

cauld blast," and "Here's a health to ane I lo'e dear " — Miss 
Lewars was the heroine. 

When Mrs. Bums became a widow, she possessed no more 
trusted friend than the lady who had with untiring devoted- 
ness ministered to her illustrious husband in his last illness ; 
and when nearly sixty years afterwards, she, in her own 
widowhood, as Mrs Thomson, passed away, according to a 
beautiful arrangement, she was buried next door, as it were, 
to the Mausoleum, beside her old neighbours. Bums and his 
Bonnie Jean. The tomb-stone, which is fixed in the wall on 
the south side, bears the following words : 



« 



In memory of James Thomson, Writer in Dumfries, who died 5 
May, 1849, aged 75. Jessie Lewars, his Spouse, who died 26th May, 
1855, aged 77, and of their Sons, James Thomson, who died August, 
1820, aged 20 ; John Thomson, who died 17th April 1837, aged 34 ; 
Thomas Thomson^ who died 5th August, 1825, aged 15 ; Alexander 
Thomson, Writer, who died 18th March, 1859, aged 44 ; William 
Thomson, who died at Cape of Good Hope, 8th December, 1859, 
aged 52." 

Another more enduring epitaph on the lady remains, pre- 
sented to her by Burns when she was suffering from indis- 
position while waiting upon his death-bed, and which, he 
said good-humouredly, would provide for the worst : 

** Say, sages, what's the charm on earth 
Can turn Death's dart aside ? 
It is not purity and worth, 
Else Jessie had not died." 

On quitting the precincts of the poet's tomb, we say with 
Campbell ; 

** Farewell, high chief of Scottish song ! 
That could'st alternately impart 
Wisdom and rapture in thy page. 
And brand each vice with satire strong ; 
Whose lines are mottoes of the heart. 
Whose truths electrify the sage. 



it 



Farewell, and ne'er may envy dare 
To wring one baleful poison drop 
From the crush'd laurels of thy bust ; 
But while the lark sings sweet in air. 
Still may the grateful pilgrim stop 
To bless the spot that holds thy dust.' 



THE SOUTHERN WALL AND WALK. 

rTV<EAVING the immediate vicinity of the Mausoleum, 
^IKSi ^^ proceed in a southern direction to view the 

<5^=^ monuments on the wall and others confronting them 
on the north side of the walk. After passing a neat head- 
stone raised in memory of John Inman^ accountant, died 29th 
October 1835, aged 37, his wife Mary Ann Thorbum, a'hd 
their young daughter Mary, we reach a unique and imposing 
structure set into the south-east comer, a scroll on which 
commemorates Hannah, wife of John Walker, gentleman, of 
Pott Hall, Pottshrigley, Cheshire ; their daughter Sarah ; the 
husband of the latter, John Hinchsliffe, died 12th August 
1807, aged 47 — ^their children, Archibald died in infancy, 
Hannah at 6, Charles at 25, Samuel at 20, Clement at 32. 
A second scroll bears the names of Archibald died in 
infancy, Archibald at 14, Isabella at 20, Hannah at 24, 
and John at 5, the children of Joseph Hinchsliffe, for many 
years jeweller in Dumfries. 

On entering the pathway we find it for the most part lined 
on each side with large, handsome monuments, pilastered, 
pedimented, and umed, each with its burial plot 'railed in, 
and not a few displaying bushes of cypress, yew, arbor vitae, 
or holly, whose foliage, though appropriately sombre, does 
more than the architecture, fine though that is, to beautify 
the scene. We do not need to read the literature of the 
stones in order to learn that members of the social '* upper 
ten," low enough now alas ! lie buried here. What aristo- 
cratic Castle Street was to the Burgh fifty years ago, the 
lower part of the Southern Walk is to St MichaePs, not a few 
who dwelt in the former now occupying lodgings in the 
"cold, cold ground" of the latter, these also affording a 
resting-place to several other still more wealthy patricians 
who took rank among the suburban gentry of a former 
generation. Not for opulence only were sdme of them noted; 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 113 

but also for high intelligence^ public spirit^ benevolence, and 
philanthropy. 

A neat erection on the wall, with marble tablet and granite 
pillars, commemorated James Charteris, infant son of William 
H. Gornal, formerly merchant in Dumfries. On a ha];idsom6 
monument, with double canopy, we read the names of 
Christopher Johnstone, joiner, long a devoted member of the 
New Church Session, died 12th March 1843, aged 66 ; of his 
wife Winnifred, sister of Convener Grainger ; and eigfxt of 
their of&pring : James, who died in infancy, Winnifred at 12, 
Thomas at 37, Mary at 40, Agnes at 43, Henry at 4d, 
Anderina at 54, and SibeUa at 61. Four children of our 
worthy townsman. Mr. Kobert Johnistone, printer, son of 
Christopher, all of whom died young, are also named upon 
the monument. 

In the adjoining plot lies Bailie Jacob Hellon, clothier, 
died 25th February 1866, aged 70, one of a few enterprising 
Englishmen who during the current century acquired busi- 
ness success and municipal honours in the Burgh ; also his 
wife Harriet Drysdale ; the neat monument which bears 
their names commemorating also seven of their of^ring, all 
laid low when young, the oldest, Edward Thomas, having 
been only seven years of age. 

Nearly all the monuments which come next under notice 
are Gothic in design, of local red sandstone, and painted 
white. The one first reached, however, is of granite, massive, 
severely-simple in its aspect, and surmounted by a sarco- 
phagus. On its tablet is a name which recalls the figure of 
an active, bustling, enterprising, and warm-hearted gentle- 
man. For about forty years prior to 1850 Dumfries had few 
more useful citizens than he who is the subject of the follow- 
ing epitaph : — 

^* Sacred to the memory of Adam Bankine, Esquire, who died on 
the 9th August 1859, aged 82. During many eventful years he took 
an active part in public affairs ; and it was chiefly by his meritorious 
exertions that the Dumfries Artillery Volunteers, of which he was 
Captain, were formed and equipped in 1804, when the enemy threat- 
ened to land upon our shores. Ab uno disce omnes '* [from a single 
instance infer the whole.] 

H 



114 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

His wife, well characterised as "the amiable Sarah M'Kenzie," 
who predeceased him in 1840, is also commemorated on the 
monument. Bom at New Gralloway, Mr. Bankine came to 
Dumfries when quite a youth, and before he had been manj 
years in his new place of abode, his shrewdness, geniality, 
energy, and general force of character, secured for him a 
flourishing business, a high social position, and a host of 
friends. As mentioned in his epitaph, when the French 
threatened to pay this country a hostile visit, and the defiant 
strain " Does haughty Gaul invasion threat T* was sung in 
festive circles with a fuller appreciation than we can now 
attach to it, he turned the patriotic feeling to practical 
account by the formation of a Volunteer Artillery corps, of 
which he was made chief officer. A contemporary assures us 
that a finer looking man than Captain Bankine in uniform, 
at the head of his company, could scarcely have been found. 
A bailie as well as a captain, he proved to be a skilful director 
of municipal affairs. On Dumfries falling into financial diffi- 
culties, he and others who were summoned to the rescue 
won credit for themselves by redeeming that of the Burgh ; 
and as Grovemor of the local Savings' Bank, he was for many 
years the principal prop and stay of that institution. 

To John Barker, an accomplished medical gentleman, who 
was provost of the Burgh in 1817-8-9 ; his spouse, Margaret 
Battaley ; and several members of their family, the next stone 
is devoted. He died on the 27th of February 1824, aged 66. 
"With Mr. Bankine, whom he now neighbours in the tomb. 
Provost Barker was associated in the task of restoring the 
financial edifice of the Burgh under the circumstances de- 
scribed in a preceding chapter. For this delicate duty he 
seems to have been admirably adapted. " He was decidedly 
a man of business," says Mr. M'Diarmid in his " Picture of 
Dumfries," " as well as a man of science and admitted ability 
in his own profession ; and having some leisure he applied 
himself most sedulously to the disentanglement and re- 
arrangement of the town's affairs. . . That he had coadjutors 
who entered into his views and tendered their assistance we 
cordially admit, and willingly believe, but still we cling to 



MEMORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL'S. 115 

the opinion that Mr. Barker, in modem times^ was our great- 
est financial reformer^ and that his successors in office have 
profited largely by his example and exertions." 

Two infant children of Provost Barker, and two others 
who reached manhood, are named in the inscription, James 
who died at 33, and John who died at 48 ; also an infant 
son of the latter; while sidestones commemorate "Mrs. 
Barker, widow of T. B. Barker,*' died 4th October 1868, and 
Agnes, infant daughter of David Barker of "Woodland. 

Adjoining lie the relics of another chief magistrate, David 
Armstrong, a man of rare attainments as a solicitor, and who 
made a very good provost — his burghal rule extending over 
1837-8-9-40. He belonged to a leading legal firm, whose 
other head, Bobert Murray, also occupied the civic chair, and 
whose dust slumbers in the same section. Provost Arm- 
strong died on the 17th of August 1846, aged 48. A son, 
Charles Armstrong, who followed his father's profession at 
Dumfries, and afterwards at Annan, and a daughter, Jane 
Elizabeth Armstrong, both exceedingly axniable, are also, 
with other children, named in the inscription — ^the former 
dying in 1856, at the age of 28, and the latter in the following 
year, at the age of 27. The record also commemorates their 
mother, " Dinah Elizabeth Anne, relict of the above David 
Armstrong, and widow of the late Benjamin Burnley, of 
Methley, Yorkshire, who died at Eastbourne, Sussex, 20th 
August 1872, aged 73 years." Bather more than half a cen- 
tury since, the lady whose name has just been mentioned was 
the heroine of a romantic episode, with which the Burgh rang 
for many months ; the chief incidents in it being her unwill- 
ing betrothal to a Leith merchant, her marriage to Mr. David 
Armstrong, a deadly quarrel between the rivals, involving a 
challenge and a law-suit. Mrs. Armstrong, whose wedded 
life was begun under such sensational circumstances, proved 
a good wife to the future Provost, and as the monument 
states, bore to him several children : she survived him, and 
late in life was married again to a wealthy gentleman of 
Yorkshire. Her father was James Grieve, a prosperous 
wine-merchant, who occupied the old premises called "The 



116 MKMORIAI3 OF ST. XIGHAXL's. 



PmazSy" whidi stood at the oamer between H^b Street and 
BankStitet. 

The Soathem Walk ^eaents no finer monnment than the 
neighbouring one, on which seTeral notable names appear. 
It is consecrated to the memory of Grace, daughter of Dr. 
William Babington (a respected minister of the Episcopalian 
Church, Dumfries); of her husband, Alexander Melville of 
Hallfield% Fifeshire, MJD.; their issue : William, who died 
at Austin, in Texas, aged £5 ; Janet, aged 20 ; and Alex- 
ander Charles, who died in childhood. Mrs. Melville died 
on the 13th of January 1S23, aged 42. Dr. Melville, who 
bore high repute as a physician, married secondly Agnes 
Maxwell, daughter of Wellwood Maxwell of Bamdeuch, 
r^arding whom we had much to say in a preceding chapter. 
His death occurred on the 9th of August 1842, when he 
was aged 56, and the inscription shews that his widow out- 
lived him till 19th August 1858, when she died at the age of 

76. 

In this section rest two worthy gentlemen, who at various 
periods occupied Castledykes, the finest mansion of the 
suburbs — ^namely, Ebenezer Stott, died 5th May 1828, aged 
70, and John M'Adam, died 9th July 1836, aged 62. To the 
first of these gentlemen the credit is due of making the 
grounds about the house a "thing of beauty." He found 
them a rugged quarry (whence many of the tombstones of St. 
Michael's cemetery were hewn) with desolate surroundings of 
water-pools, moss, and rock, and he left them blossoming as 
the rose. "Mr. M^Diarmid, in describing, more than forty 
years ago, what had been done for the place by Mr. Stott, at a 
cost of not less than ^20,000, says : " The soil in the centre is 
wholly forced, and the proprietor, who spared no expense in 
adorning a spot which he preferred to all others, even after 
making the tour of Britain, and which he enjoyed for too 
short a period, paid a hundred guineas to the town of Dum- 
fries for the privilege of baring to the depth of a few inches a 
small section of the Kingholm Merse. Even in churchyards 
mother earth scarcely brings a higher price. Castledykes is 
the admiration of all strangers. A mount within the policy 



Memorials of 8t. Michael's. 117 

takes the name of Paradise ; and were Castledykes ours, we 
"would apply the epithet to the whole domain." While con- 
trasting this picture with the gloom of the sepulchres we see 
around, it is consolatory to reflect that the most charming 
spots on earth are but as the tents of Kedar to the Promised 
Land, though the heavenly Paradise can only be reached 
through the portal of the grave. 

A very stately monument, the same in design as that of 
Mr. Stott of Castledykes, rises up beside it to commemorate 
his brother Watson Stott of Kelton, Kirkcudbrightshire, died 
22d October 1822, aged 67, and the wife of the latter, Sarah 
Taylor. Each structure is emblazoned with an escutcheon 
and the motto, " Alta Petit." 

Since Mr. M^Diarmid's description of Castledykes was writ- 
ten, the place has been rendered increasingly attractive by 
subsequent proprietors, Mr. M'Adam, Mr. John Buchan Hep- 
burn, Mr. Robert Scott, and Dr. Bruce. Mr. M'Adam had a 
humble origin. Bearing pastoral crook as a boy on the hills 
of Carsphaim, he at an early age left his fleecy charge and 
home for a land where more wool grows on bushes than on 
sheep's backs ; and as a cotton merchant in New York and 
afterwards at Liverpool he amassed a fortune, settling down 
to enjoy it in this palatial retreat on the banks of Nith, where 
he died after occupying it only eight brief years. We have 
heard that he possessed a nicety of touch which enabled him 
to discriminate between different classes of cotton wool as if 
by magic, and that to this gift much of his business success 
was due ; but he was of the stuff from which " self-made men" 
are fashioned, shrewd, clever, careful, enterprising, and indus- 
trious. 

Since so much has been said about Castledykes and its 
owners it may be as well to explain that its name is derived 
from the circumstance that it occupies the site of an old 
fortress which belonged to the Red Comyn ; hence the refer- 
ence made by Burns : 

** The Thames flows proudly to the sea, 
Where royal cities stately stand ; 
But sweeter far the Nith to me. 
Where Comyns aince had high command." 



118 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHA£L*S. 

Singular to say the present worthy proprietor of Comyn's old 
inheritance is a Bruce, his next door neighbour north is a 
"Wallace (Mrs. Wallace, daughter of Provost Gabriel Richard- 
son), and the tenant of the next house south bears the family 
patronymic of Devorgilla, whose son John Baliol competed 
with Bruce and Comyn for the Crown of Scotland : such an 
incidental conjunction of historical names would not be easily 
paralleled. 

One of the last of the Trade Conveners, Allan Anderson, 
receives commemoration from an adjoiniug monument. 
Achieving merited success as a house painter, he was placed 
over the Incorporated Craftsmen in 1825, and it was partly 
out of compliment to him personally, that a splendid gold 
chain was presented by the Dumfries public to the Trades, 
with which to decorate their chief. The chain remains, 
though the system with which the glittering badge was 
associated has long since been broken up, and of all those by 
whom it was worn it must be said in the beautifully figura- 
tive language of Scripture, " The silver cord has been loosed, 
and the golden bowl been broken at the fountain." Mr. 
Anderson was also a County magistrate and proprietor of 
Whiteside. He died at Allanbank, 29th April 1856, aged 73. 

On the stone appear also the names of his wife, Mary 
Berwick, and of eight of their children, three cut off when 
infants, Jessie who died at 11, Allan at 12, John who died at 
32, James, who carried on his father^s business, died 15th Feb- 
ruary 1840, aged 36 ; and David, an accomplished and devoted 
army surgeon, who fell a victim to his professional exertions 
during the Crimean war when attending the sick and wounded 
at Scutari 4th November 1854, aged 33. Allan Anderson's 
son-in-law, James Berwick, died 28th April 1860, aged 34, 
and two children of the latter, Jessie who died in babyhood, 
and Margaret when 14 years old, are also mentioned on the 
monument. 

We have already spoken of several deceased persons who 
possess much more imposing and durable memorials than any 
placed over them in this Churchyard. Of none of these can 
this be said so emphatically as of the wedded pair whose 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 119 

burial-place is next arrived at. For one who muses intelli- 
gently beside it, thousands admiringly survey the Crichton 
Eoyal Institution, the proud monument which will bear the 
names of its founders to a remote posterity — ^long after, per- 
haps, their tombstone, stable though it seems, has crumbled 
into dust. Dr. James Crichton, to whom the district and the 
cause of humanity owe the erection of this asylum for minds 
diseased, served long under the East India Company, and 
returning home in 1808, he purchased Friars' Carse, which 
had been rendered famous over the world by the muse of 
Bums. There he dwelt till he died fifteen years afterwards, 
leaving the immense sum of £100,000 to be laid out for a 
beneficent purpose, " in any way that his dear wife thought 
proper," with the approval of other trustees specified in his 
settlement. The erection and endowment of a model house 
for the treatment of insane patients were resolved upon ; 
hence the magnificent and " beneficent " Crichton Institution, 
which is seen crowning the crest of Mountainhall in the 
southern environs of the Burgh. 

One of the two marble tablets on the monument is " Sacred 
to the memory of James Crichton, Esq. of Friars' Carse, who 
died on the third day of May 1823." The other bears the 
following inscription : 

" Sacred to the memory of EHzabeth Crichton, eldest daughter of 
the late Sir Bobert Grierson of Lag, Bart., widow of the late James 
Crichton, Esq. of Friars' Carse, and one of the trustees and executors 
of her husband, in which capacity she founded and endowed the 
Crichton Boyal Institution for lunatics at Dumfries and the Crichton 
Grammar School at Sanquhar. Obiit. 11th Oct. 1862, aged 83 years." 

There were but two removes between this lady and her 
ancestor, the Lag of persecuting memory ; but they stood in 
other respects wide apart, she, all unlike him, having been 
virtuous and benevolent in life and at death deeply regretted. 

A very respectable pair — William Bumside, upholsterer, 
and Maria Halcot — who lived together long after the date of 
their " golden wedding," receive commemoration from a neat 
monument adjoining. He died at 80, on 8th April 1873; 
his relict surviving him till 8th January 1876, when she was 
in her 83d year. Their son James, who died in childhood ; 



120 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICSAEL's. 

their other son William, commission agent, Castle-Douglas, 
died 11th May 1873, aged 58 : the wife of the latter, Ann 
Balieff ; and Ann Halcot, mother of Mrs. Bomside, sen., 
are also named in the inscription. 

On the next stone we observe a lengthened obituary, com- 
prising the names of William Forsyth ; his wife, Christina 
Shaw; and the whole of their children, seven in number. 
Mr. Forsyth was brother of the late Mr. Philip Forsyth of 
Nithside, and like him a gentleman of intelligence and 
worth. After spending his earlier years as a West India 
planter, he resided on his estate at Ladyfield, Dumfries, 
where he died 29th November 1846, aged 49 : of his issue, 
Mary died at 16, Eliza at 27, Frances at 18, Philip at 17, 
Leonora at 7, Christina Jane at 22 ; the last survivor being 
Ambrose, a fine young man, who, dying in Jamaica, 28th 
February 1870, at the age of 30, lies buried there, remote 
from kindred dast. Joseph Forsyth of Baffles, died 25th 
December 1825, aged 80 ; and his wife, Jane Costine, are 
named on another portion of the edifice. 

We must pause for a minute at the next monument, com- 
memorating as it does a man who was in more senses than 
one a merchant prince in our little Burgh. It rises " Sacred 
to the memory of James MWhir," who died on the 1st of 
June 1839, in his 62d year ; of his relict, Helen Hannah ; 
of their daughter Helen; and also of the husband of the 
latter, John MTurk, formerly of Pennersaughs, who died at 
Melbourne, 10th February 1855, aged 58. Mr. M^Whir 
took an active part in town affairs and in all matters pertain- 
ing to the port and its commerce he was a leading authority 
while he lived. If the Nith is not now a great avenue of 
trade he is not to blame : greatly through his exertions the 
Act of 1811, for straightening, deepening, and conserving the 
river, was passed by Parliament ; and he presided over the 
committee of merchants who superintended the operations 
required by the Act. So much were his free-will services in 
this capacity appreciated by the Navigation Commissioners 
that they voted him a sum of 250 guineas. As further 
illustrative of the high position occupied by Mr M*Whir, we 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 121 

may mention that when our merchants met to celebrate the 
Beform Jubilee by a dinner on the 11th of Aug. 1832, he 
was called on to occupy the chair, and that his speech in 
proposing the toast of the evening vindicated the appoint- 
ment, it being well worthy of the great occasion. 

James Smith, long tenant of Nethertown, who belonged to 
a race of industrious farmers, lies in the next plot, died 19th 
February 1859, aged 69 ; the neat monument which com- 
memorates him also recording the sad fate of his son, Thomas 
Maxwell, who, by the capsizing of a boat, was thrown 
into the river Nith near Kingholm Quay, and perished when 
in the "early youthful prime" of 17 years, 8th February 
1840. Another sod, George, who died in childhood, is also 
mentioned in the inscription. 

Turning to the north side of the walk, we see two 
handsome monuments, raised respectively to commemorate 
Josephine Mundell Richardson and Mary Ann Richardson, 
daughters of Bums's friend. Provost Gabriel Richardson^ 
of whom we shall have something to say on visiting 
the place where he lies buried, near the Mausoleum. The 
first named lady was the wife of Alexander Hannay, agent 
for the National Bank, long Treasurer of the Dumfries and 
Maxwelltown Education Society, first Chairman of the Dum- 
fries School Board, and a gentleman of great worth and 
public usefulness, who, dying on the 2d of July 1874, aged 
81, joined his partner in the tomb, after the long interval of 
37 years. The other lady was married to John Burnet, wine 
merchant. She was thrown out of a gig, which mournful 
accident caused her death, when in the meridian of woman- 
hood, on the 4th of October 1834 : hence the quotation from 
Scripture which was placed on the monument by her sorrow- 
ing husband, " I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes 
with a stroke." The Courier, in commenting upon the sad 
accident, says : " We are not aware of a single occurrence 
since the fearful pestilence (of cholera) visited our shores 
that has cast a deeper gloom over the town of Dumfries than 
the sudden, violent, and much-lamented death of Mrs. John 
Burnet." 



122 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. \ 

Between these monuments stand other two : the first of 
them in memory of Jemima Grierson, aged 10 years, and Jane 
Grierson, aged 24, and their mother, Jean Barron, died 
at Liverpool, 26th October 1856, aged 55 ; the second 
commemorating George Manuel of the East India Company's 
Service, died 3d December 1843, aged 70, and Elizabeth 
Hamilton, his spouse. 

Bepeated reference has been made by us to the Seven 
Trades and their shooting saturnalia. Bich reminiscences of 
these are suggested by the next stone, which is raised above 
the remains of Alexander Howat, butcher^ who, as Convener 
of the Guild, ruled over it right jovially. On the 24th of 
April 1828 the famous Siller Gun was shot for by the 
Trades under his popular convenership — that being the 
very last time in which the Merse of Kingholm was occu- 
pied by the craftsmen when competing for Eling James's 
tiny trinket. Mr. Howat died on the 2d of July 1834, aged 
64. The stone also bears the names of his spouse, Elizabeth 
M^Guflfog, "an aflfectionate wife, a tender mother, and a 
sincere frieud ;" and of their children — ^Alexander, who died 
when 29 ; Charles Douglas, died at Elingston, Canada, when 
28 ; Helen, when 44 ; Isabella, relict of Bichard Jarrett, died 
at Hoboken when 57 ; Jessie, relict of John Connal, jun., died 
at the same age ; also John, son of the latter, who died when 
19. Fencing in the burial plot on the east side, stands a 
very handsome little monument, in memory of the worthy 
Convener's eldest son, William Howat, captain of the Boyal 
Navy, who died on the 4th of December 1871, aged 73. The 
inscription states that he retired after nearly forty years of 
active service ; " and by the undeviating rectitude of his con- 
duct, both as a Christian and a gentleman, he gained the 
sincere esteem and friendship of all who knew him. He 
died universally respected and regretted." The stone is 
richly carved with crowns and anchors, the workmanship of 
Mr. "William Flint, to indicate the service of which Captain 
Howat was a respected member. 

On the next stone we find the name of a devoted preacher 
of the gospel, James Brown, the first minister placed over the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 123 

CameroniaDB of the town and district, after their erection 
into a regular charge. Never very robust, he overtasked his 
strength when visiting sufferers from cholera, during the 
dreadful epidemic of 1832 ; and, a martyr to duty, he died 
of consumption about eighteen months afterwards. His be- 
reaved flock built this handsome monument to shew how 
much they esteemed him on his own account and for his 
work's sake, when "building them up in our most holy 
faith." The epitaph is in the following terms : — 

''In memory of the Bev. James Brown, late pastor of the Eeformed 
Presbyterian congregation, Dumfries, who died on the 26th of May 
1834, in the 33d year of his age and the 3d year of his ministiy. 
Conscientious and faithful in the discharge oi all his duties; in- 
flexible in his adherence to what he judged right ; unsparing in his 
labours for the good of all around him ; willingly subjecting himself 
to danger by hui unremitting attentions to the afflicted during the 
fearful visitation of pestilence in 1832 ; and withal most gentle and 
amiable in his disposition ; he was greatly beloved by all who knew 
him, and especially by his flock, who have erected this monument in 
token of the affection with which they cherish his memory." 

The next monum.ent marks an era in our municipal life, 
as weU as the place among the dead occupied by a worthy 
and able man. Under the old pre-Eeform system the rulers 
of the Burgh were to a large extent self -elected ; but by a 
Bill which took effect on the first Tuesday of November 1833 
the ten pound owners and occupiers were entrusted with the 
privilege of choosing the members of the Town Council, 
twenty-five in number. Among those returned on that 
memorable day was Mr. Robert Murray, writer. He and 
Mr. "William Grordon, writer, received each 72 votes in their 
respective wards, none of the others obtaining so many. Of 
these, the first local representatives elected by popular 
suffirage, three still survive — Mr. W. Gordon, Mr. George 
Dunbar, and Mr. James Dinwiddle. When the Council met 
to distribute the honours of office, Mr. Eobert Murray, whose 
tombstone we have now reached, was chosen as Chief -Magis- 
trate by general acclamation. His rule was of very brief dura- 
tion, lasting Httle more than six months, his life and career of 
public usefulness having been cut short when he was in the 
prime of manhood, to the great regret of the community. 
On the monument, which bears to have been erected by his 



124 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

brother, the late Rev. Andrew B. Murray of Mouswald, 
there is the subjoined inscription : 

"In memory of Robert Murray, Esq., first Provost of Dumfries 
imder the Municipal Reform Act. Elected unanimously, and died in 
office, 25th May 1834, in the 50th year of Ms age — much regretted." 

A respected burgess, Greorge Corson, brewer, is com- 
memorated by the next stone, died 26th July 1841, aged 41 ; 
together with two of his children who were cut off in infancy, 
and a third, William, who died at 31. 

Another man who was eminent in many diverse ways oc- 
cupies the grave adjoining : his monument bears the following 
epitaph : 

"In memory of John Commelin of King's Grange (X7rr), for 
twenty-three years agent at Dumfries for the British Linen Com- 
pany, who died in Dumfries on the 21st of March 1836, aged 67 
years. Distinguished for his attainments as a classical scholar, a 
profound knowledge of the laws of his country, eloquence as a public 
speaker, sound judgment, and inflexible integrity, he lived esteemed 
and died lamented by all.'' 

Mr. Commelin was a dative of Kirkcudbright. "As a lawyer," 
says the Courier, " he was considered searching and sound ; 
as a pleader terse, sagacious, minute, with a richer vein of 
fancy than he chose to indulge ; while as a referee he re- 
deemed the confidence so generally reposed' in him by awards 
that did honour to his head and heart." 

The twin tribes of Celts, Hibernian and Scottish, have re- 
presentatives buried near by; the stone over them com- 
memorating Major William Davis, of the 7th Eegiment of 
Dragoons, died July 30th 1855, aged 85, the cadet of an old 
Irish family, and his wife, Mary Hill Bisset, descended from 
an ancient Highland house, of which, we believe. Sir Bobert 
Bisset, the celebrated antiquary, was a member. 

At Terraughty, when its possessor was the veteran John 
Maxwell, whose name we have had frequently to mention in 
connection with that of Bums, the gardener employed was 
Mr. James Bogie, a worthy man, who during his latter years 
occupied St. Michael's Cottage, Dumfries, in the grounds of 
which he might often have been seen — a fine embodiment of 
"retired leisure that in trim gardens takes its pleasure." 
His long rest in the place where no work is done dates from 



aiEMORIALS OF ST. UICHAEL's. 125 

the 20th of December 1861 ; aged, as we learn further from 
hig monument now reached, 83. Of Bums he could speak 
from personal knowledge, and in the movements for raising 
the Mausoleum and providing for the poet's widow and 
family he took a most creditable part. William Bogie, 
brother of James, who died at Kimmater Green, Annan, 23d 
July 1861, aged 76, is also named in the inscription. 

"We now reach the tomb of the last of the Trade Conveners 
under the old system — Mr. James Thomson, architect. He 
was, we believe, a native of Edinburgh, and first set up his 
staff in Dumfries about 1815, when he came to superintend 
the changes by which a chapel in Buccleuch Street was 
transformed into the County Court-house (now the Town 
HaU). Though for ages the Seven Trades of Dumfries en- 
joyed a monopoly which brought them not only exclusive 
privileges, but great political and municipal power, they, 
with Mr. Thomson as chief, gave a cordial self-denying sup- 
port to the Reform movement, which was to bring them- 
selves down in one respect and in another to " level up " to- 
their platform a great body of the unfreemen and the un- 
enfranchised. During the whole period of their history the 
Trades, we believe, never had a more efficient chief ; and they, 
with the view of shewing their appreciation of his worth, 
entertained him at dinner, and presented him with a hand- 
some service of sUver plate. This was the last merry meeting 
of a public kind held in Dumfries for many months. Cholera 
entered the Burgh about a week afterwards, and among its 
first victims of the middle class was Convener Thomson. 
Whilst busily engaged as a member of the newly-formed 
Board of Health in making sanitary arrangements, he was 
prostrated by the pestilence, his death occurring 11th October 
1832. When the sad news spread abroad, as it soon did, the 
prevailing gloom of the community acquired a deeper hue. 
When thus suddenly cut off Mr. Thomson was only in his 
49th year. The monument to his memory is appropriately 
tasteful in an architectural sense. On its tablet of light grey 
granite the names of himself and two sons appear in gilt 
letters. Both of the sons died abroad — George, an engineer, 



126 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

at Poonah, 11th May 1842, aged 27 ; and Robert, a 
missionaiy to the heathen of Tahite, who died at sea^ 1st 
January 1851, aged 34, his body obtaining a grave in the 
great waters — a, more comprehensive and populous burial- 
place than any which the solid earth supplies. 

Of two contemporary builders we find a stone record in 
this section — Thomas Edgar, Maxwelltown ; and John 
Heuchan, Dumfries. The former died 16th January 1839, 
aged 65 ; the inscription bearing the names of himself ; his 
wife, Mary Walker ; their children, Alexander who died at 
34, James at 37 ; also Thomas, son of Alexander, and James 
who died in infancy. Barbara Affleck, the wife of Mr. 
Heuchan, is named with him upon the monument : he died 
28th August 1836, aged 77. 

' Passing a small memorial stone, which bear» the name of 
William Young, died at St. Michael's Lodge, 8th August 
1832, aged 49, we reach the stately monument of James 
Charteris, turner, one of the founders of the Dumfries and 
Maxwelltown Meclianics' Institute, and who, by lecturing 
and otherwise, assisted to bring it to maturity. Besides 
being an industrious and ingenious mechanic, Mr. Charteris 
devoted much time to scientific subjects, more especially 
electricity, in which he was an adept. He died 11th August, 
1861, aged 75. Buried beside him lie his wife, Janet Gracie, 
and their two sons, James who died at 12, and Thomas Gracie 
at 16. 

Several members of the Bamkin Thorbums lie buried in 
portions of the Cemetery already visited ; and we find the 
names of others on the next monument : William Thorbum, 
a skilful agriculturist, died 29th May 1867, aged 61 ; and his 
children Robert who died at 7, Fanny at 28, and Mary at 29. 

" Loyal au mort " stands appropriately as a motto over the 
name of a gallant soldier, Major John Drummond of the 
Bengal Artillery, died 29th December, 1830, aged 64; the 
imposing Gothic structure thus inscribed commemorating also 
that officer's wife, Mary Harriet Cridland ; and Agnes Crid- 
land, spouse of Samuel Anthony Bloxam, Eton, Bucks. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 127 

Several members of upper dass families are named on the 
next monument^ the record including : Jane^ daughter of 
John Armstrong of Pokeskin, wife of Aurelius Gillet of the 
East India Service, died at Newtonaird, 17th May, 1833 (age 
not stated) ; Jane, niece of the above, daughter of John Yew 
Griffith of Finchley, died in June, 1830, aged 17 ; and Bar- 
bara, daughter of John Carlyle, died 2d February, 1833, 
aged 92. 

The loss of Elizabeth Moscrop, died at Clifton 1st June 
1830, aged 24, is pathetically bewailed by her husband in 
lines engraved upon the last monument of the Action. He is 
represented as saying : 

" I shall go to her but she shall not return to me." — ^2d Sam. zi. 23. 



« 



Few were the nuptial years that gladdened life, 
With its supremest bless a virtuous wife, 
When as if sent but as an angel guest, 
For her own heaven she left my widowed breast." 




RETURN TO THE WESTERN WALL. 

T the end of the Southern Walk the churchyard wall 
takes a western direction, it then runs south, after 
which it again proceeds westward till the south- 
west comer is reached. Along this line we find about 
twenty family layers, and also the resting-place of a great 
miscellaneous multitude cut off by one deadly epidemic, and 
who lie indiscriminately huddled together, yet getting quite 
as sound a sleep as if to each one of the victims had been 
allotted his own separate chamber in the populous dormitory 
below. 

A neat monument in the comer rises '^In memoiy of 
Robert Mundell, tobacconist, Dumfries, who died 15th Sep- 
tember 1837, in his 75th year.'' The dece^ed carried on a 
prosperous business at a time when the tobacco trade differed 
much from what it is now. During the three first decades 
of the current century the practice of snuffing was general, 
men of all ranks using the ''fragrant Indian weed" in 
powder form " with pungent powers perfumed ;'' and it 
was at Mr. Mundell's shop on the Plainstones that almost 
all the boxes used in the town were replenished. Then 
snuff-taking was the custom of the many, while " the little 
tube of mighty power, charmer of an idle hour,'' was a 
luxury enjoyed by the few. Now, when the same premises 
are occupied by Mr. Peter Mundell, the worthy son of the 
deceased merchant, the proportion is quite reversed ; the 
pipe, with its " vapour that affords content more solid than 
the smile of lords," has fairly puffed the box aside ; and it 
is seldom indeed that the latter article, pregnant with 
odoriferous "pinches," is met with in Dumfries society. 

Provost Gabriel Richardson married the only sister of 
Mr. Robert Mundell, and their celebrated son, Sir John 
Richardson, " owed," we are told by his biographer, " much 
of his early training to his mother, a woman of vigorous 



XEMOSIALS or 8T. MIOHABL's. 

uaderstajiding and clear judgment, frugal, independent, and 
generous. From her sons and daughters she exacted implicit 
obedience, and taught them by precept and example to love 
God and, their neighbour. Her mother, Mrs. Mundell, who 
lived at Bosebank, a delightful country house near the town, 
had also no small influence in forming the character of her 
grandaon.'^'^ The dose intimacy of Bums with the Bachardr 
sons, and their relatives the Mundells, is well known. An 
interesting letter, commending one of his sick servants to 
the professional care of Dr. Mundell, brother of Bobert, 
appears in the poet's correspondence ; and when, in another 
letter, Bums wished to describe the '^fat, sleek, stupid, 
patient, contented" race of mortals who differed, diametri- 
cally from himself, he found the '^ exact prototjrpe'' in the 
ox which drove a cotton mill set up by Dr. Mundell at 
Dumfries, after his retirement from the Boyal Navy. On 
account of this family connection, and for other reasons, 
there wits a fitness in the arrangement which made the 
present Mr. Peter Mxmdell of Bogrie, J.P. and ex-bailie^ 
chairman at one of the great festive demonstrations by which, 
seventeen years ago, the Centenary of Bums was celebrated 
in Dumfries. On the monument which has suggested these 
remarks appear also the names of his mother, Elizabeth 
Smith, age 85 ; of his wife, Janet Haining, age 43 ; and of 
two of their off-spring, who died in early childhood. 

On the next monument we read the farewell address^ 
pathetic yet consolatory, of Maiy Colvin, Dumfries, who 
died at Chichester, May 4th 1837, and who is represented 
as taking leave of her husband, William Smith, merchant, 
Dumfries, and their three children, in the following strain : 

"Farewell, fond husband and my darling boyi, 
In whom are centred all my earthly joys. 
The triple union broke*— yet one short space,. 
Will reunite us in the realms of peace. 

"Siind angels watch the sleeping dust 
TiU Jesus comes to raise the just. 
Then, may we wake with sweet surprise. 
And in our Sayiour*s image rise." 

* ttHiaith's Life of Sir John Michardwnt p. 2. 



130 MBHORIALS 07 ST. MICHASL's. 

The children were laid with her in the same Tanlt^ and seven 
years afterwards her husband joined them when at the age 
of 44, the whole household being thus swept away, and if 
the hope expressed in the inscription were realised, meeting 
again on high, '^ no wanderer lost, a family in heaven." 

Near by a stone rises in memory of Charles Dalrymple 
Porteous, Clerk of Excise, died 7th July 1875, aged 73 ; and 
his wife, Charlotte H. BaHeff, a member of a family abeady 
mentioned as occup3ring a highly respected position in Dum- 
fries. In the inscription appear the names of their three 
infant children ; of Anne Brydon, relict of Bobert Porteous^ 
senior, died 6th November 1844, aged 80 ; and of Mary, 
sister of C. D. Porteous, aged 50. 

Set into the wall in hatchment fa^on, we find a neat 
little tablet dedicated to the memory of an intelligent and 
worthy burgess, William Dickson, plasterer, died 8th De- 
cember 1867, aged 76 ; and of his spouse, Jessie M'Quhae. 
Three of their grandchildren, offspring of John Dickson, 
who f oUows his father's occupation, are named in the in- 
scription. They all died young ; and it is a remarkable cir- 
cumstance, to which we find no parallel in the Churchyard, 
that two of the children, James and John, were twins, enter- 
ing the world at the same time, and that in death they were 
not divided, both expiring 17th October 1860, at the age of 
9 years, and both lying buried together. A side panel bears 
the name of the elder Mr. Dickson's father, whose Christian 
name was also John, and the name of his wife Mary 
Underwood : he died at the advanced age of 86, on 4th 
January 1839. 

Neat plain headstones placed along the wall commemorate 
John Kean, died 4th December 1846, aged 73, with his wife, 
Elizabeth Watson, also two of their children, and Samuel 
Maxwell, cooper, their son-in-law, whose ages are not speci- 
fied ; Lieutenant William Halliday, of the 6th R. V. Battalion, 
died 11th September 1835, aged 65 ; William Wallace, mer- 
chant, died 29th December 1850, aged 49, with Marion Nibloe 
his spouse ; Bobert Jardine, merchant, died 4th October 1,832,. 
aged 28, another victim to cholera, with his spouse Margaret 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 131 

Samuel Grierson, baker and brewer, died 26tli September 1832, 
aged 38, with three of his children, including James, a medical 
student, cut off at 17 ; and Adam MTurk, died 8th June 
1830, aged 32, with his infant child Catherine. 

Of a distinguished Dumfriesian, Dr. Benjamin BeU, who 
about a hundred years ago was recognised as the greatest 
Scottish surgeon of his day, we have already had occasion 
to speak. Two near relatives, father and son, both bearing 
his name and surname, receive commemoration on the next 
monument. One of the inscriptions states that Benjamin 
Bell died 23d January 1833, in his 69th year, and it records 
also the death of his wife, Jane Paton, of their three sons 
— ^William, who died when 38, John, at Calcutta, when 30, 
and Charles, in Jamaica, when 43— of their daughter, wife of 
Mr. H. Dudgeon, and of two sisters of Mr. Bell, Elizabeth 
and Janet, both of whom lived to an advanced age. The 
second inscription is ''sacred to the memory'' of his son 
Benjamin, who spent his piime abroad as a surgeon in the 
East India Company service, and his later years at Hose- 
bank, Dumfries, where he died 3d May 1872, aged 74. 
Within the enclosure rises a headstone dedicated to John 
Douglas, merchant, died at Manchester, 17th April 1844, 
aged 49, Mary Cumner Bell, his wife, and four of their infant 
children ; also Janet Peel Bell, relict of Alexander Ness, 
merchant, Edinburgh, died 27th April 1865, aged 73. 

The word "Duncow," which we see on a stately monu- 
ment now arrived at, recalls not only memories of the near 
but of the far distant past. It is the name borne by an 
extensive manor, owned in the beginning of the fourteenth 
century by John Comyn, together with the neighbouring 
castle of Dalswinton, from which fortress he sallied forth 
on the memorable visit to our Burgh that brought him into 
contact with Bobert Bruce, and resulted in his own death 
by violence in the Greyfriars' Monastery, and eventually 
in the deliverance of Scotland from the English yoke. 
After the victory of Bannockbum had completed the work 
of liberation thus begun, Bruce recognised the patriotic 
services of his faithful follower^ Sir Bobert Boyd, by making 



132 MEMOBIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

him laird of Duncow. In course o{ time it was acquired 
hj the Nithsdale Maxwells. Some ninety years ago they 
disposed of it; and subsequently it came into the posses- 
sion of William Heron, whose name appears associated with 
Duncow, as its owner, on the monument before us. The 
inscription states that he died on the 15th of December 1819^ 
aged 70 ; that his wife, Jean Houston, died on the 28th of 
May 1856, aged 72; also that their youngest son died in 
boyhood; the following words being added recently — 
''James Heron, Esquire of Duncow, their son, who died 
19th August 1874, in his 58th year ; also William, his son, 
who died 16th November 1859, aged 5 years and 6 months." 
On the estate a magnificent mansion— palace it might almost 
be called — was erected at the cost of the late proprietor, 
about fifteen years ago. Mr. Heron's widow, a ^French 
lady, survives ; but in accordance with a settlement made 
by Wm before his mamage, and as his only child and heir 
predeceased him, the historical estate of Duncow, with its 
palatial manor-house, passed into the possession of his four 
cousins by the mother*s side, who afterwards sold them to 
Mr. Grabble, wine merchant, Leith. 

An adjoining stone commemorates James Heron, senior 
of Drumcoltran (brother of William Heron), who died June 
7th 1832, aged 71. Both of the brothers were enterprising 
and successful merchants, in what is called " the Scotch trade " 
south of the Border, and afterwards as drapers in Dumfries. 

About forty years ago two brothers, Taylor by name, who 
had earned a competency in the West Indies, occupied respec- 
tively in their latter years Broomland and Troqueer Holm, 
both beautiful residences on the Galloway bank of the Nith. 
Being gentlemen of intelligence, moral worth, and religious 
devotedness, they proved to be a valuable acquisition to the 
society of the district. Greatly owing to the exertions of the 
brothers Taylor the Maxwelltown Chapel-of-Ease was built 
in 1829, of which the celebrated Dr. James Begg was the first 
minister. Sharing many things in common when alive, they 
lie side by side in the tomb, with stately twin monuments of 
Greek design rising above, that differ in nothing except the 



J 



HEMORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL's. 133 

lettAing, which informs us that Eobert Taylor of Broomland 
died on the 11th of March, 1841, aged 60 ; and that his 
brother predeceased him on the 16th of July 1831, at the age 
of 61, In yet another respect the brothers presented a 
parallel, having each married a daughter of the Bev. Br. 
Bumsidey both of whom are here commemorated : Jane 
Bumside, wife of Eobert, with their infant daughter ; and 
Mary Bumside, wife of William, with their four children, 
two of whom lived to middle age — ^namely, William, who was 
B.A. of Queen's College, Cambridge, and Anne, wife of the 
Rev. R. r. Browne Winslowe, incumbent of Fensnett. 

The youngest daughter of Robert Taylor was married to 
the late Dudley Baxter who gained much repute as the 
author of some'very able pamphlets, financial and poUtical, 
one of which is entitled " The Progress of National Debts," 
another "Local Government* and Local Taxation." He was 
a native of Doncaster, and member of the "^ell-known legal 
firm of Baxter & Co. He died in May 1875, aged 48, leaving 
two sons to mourn his early death. 

Three brothers, Spalding, members of an upper-class family, 
have their names recorded on the next stone — ^these being 
James Spalding, Clerk of the Peace for Dumfriesshire, died 
3d July 1838, aged 74 ; Robert, a writer, died 15th February 
1822, aged 54 ; and John, a Glasgow merchant, died in 1824, 
aged also 54. Sibella Bell, wife of James, and four of their 
children, are also commemorated by the monument — ^Robert, 
who died at 32, Agnes at 42, John at 49, and James, a 
distinguished surgeon, for many years on the staff of our 
Infirmary, who died at the same age. 

Agnes, daughter of Francis Kennedy of Dunure, head of 
a well-known Ayrshire house, is kept in remembrance by an 
adjoining headstone : she died 8th April 1820, aged 69. It 
is neighboured by one bearing the following inscription : 

" Sacred to the memory of Emma Caroline Duncan, who died at 
Mrs. McQueen's, Netherwoodbank, Dumfriesshire, on the 20th April 
1820, aged nine years and six months, only child of the late Ideut. 
Andrew Duncan, of the Eoyal Navy, and Mrs. Mary Grant bis 
spouse. This stone is erected by Mr. and Mrs. McQueen in remem- 
brance of their dear young friend, in May 1820." 



134 HBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAKL's. 

Many of the ministerB whose voice Sabbath after Sabbath 
resounded through St. Michael's Church slumber silently in 
the Cemetery around. Coming to the resting place of one of 
them we read, '' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,'' 
then the words, " Sacred to the memory of the Eev. Bobert 
Wallace, minister of St. Michael's Parish, Dumfries, who died 
20th of November 1864, in the 76th year of his age, and the 
48th of his ministry." The deceased clergyman was bom at 
New Luce ; and it was while acting as assistant pastor in 
Kirkpatrick-Durham that he was translated to Dumfries, on 
the death of the previous incumbent. Dr. Scot. At that 
period he was an impressive and attractive preacher ; and 
through life his pulpit utterances were of a thoroughly 
Evangelical cast. We repeat here a portion of what was 
said in the Standard regarding him at the period of his 
demise : " Dr. Wallace was of a mild, generous, benevolent 
disposition. Possessed of a fine appearance, he was at the 
same time highly accomplished — a thorough gentleman, 
polished, affable, and courteous. Even when unable to 
officiate in the pulpit, he kept up a cordial intercourse 
with many of his parishioners ; and now that he is gone, 
his venerable form and kindly smile will be much missed 
by the people of his charge." 

To his excellent partner, Elizabeth Smith, and three of 
their children — ^Agnes, an infant, Elizabeth, who died when 
29, and Bobert, who died at Mobile, when 44, a few lines 
are allotted on the monument ; and a rare entry follows, 
in remembrance of Mary Moreland and Elizabeth M^iel, 
"faithful servants of the family." In the grave 

" Servants, masterS) small and great, 
Partake the same repose ;" 

yet how seldom do we see their names associated in this 

pleasing style, suggesting as it does dutiful servitude on the 

one hand and kindly oonsiderateness on the other. The poet 

warns us 

" Of friends however humble scorn not one ; 
The daisy by the shadow that it casts, 
Protects the Imgering dewdrop from the sun.** 

And in this case, the service appreciated during life is grate- 



UlOfORIALS OF ST. KICBABL's. 135 

fully realised after death, upon the tombstone. The plot k 
kept in fine order. Within it rises also a cruciform memorial- 
stone of marble, whose pure white hue contrasts beautifully 
with the evergreen bushes by which it is surrounded. The 
cross is reared in memory of an accomplished lady, Agnes, 
youngest daughter of Dr Wallace, and wife of the Bev. James 
Williamson of Allahabad, India, formerly assistant to his 
father-in-law. She died March 24th, 1870, at the age of 33. 

The neighbouring compartment, which is also very taste- 
fully kept, is the property of a respected Dumfries family ; 
the neat monument within it recording the death of John 
Muirhead, innkeeper, which took place 18th February 1850, 
at the age of 74, of his wife, Elizabeth M'Naught, two 
children, and other relatives, including a son-in-law, Thomas 
Kerr, flesher, died 3d April 1849, aged 41. 

THE CHOLERA MOUND. 

Who lie in the next long, long section ? Many, their name 
numerically is legion ; but of the designations borne by them 
when alive no reliable list has been preserved, unless it be 
that of " the recording angel." About seventy-eight feet long 
and eleven broad, the compartment is out of all comparison 
much more spacious than any other to be seen throughout 
the Cemetery, yet it is but "a narrow house" after all for 
the lodgment of the numerous tenants that were lowered 
into it during the seventy dismal days of 1832, when cholera, 
like a destroying angel, dominated over the town and district. 
Had not the relays of wearied sextons, who laboured away at 
the sepulchral excavation, dug deep to utilise fully the space 
at their disposal, it could not have contained one-half of the 
hecatomb brought hither on handspokes, in hearses, or in 
other vehicles, during the period of the visitation. The 
Southern Walk has been represented as bearing the same 
relationship to the dead that Castle Street does or did to the 
quick ; and the Cholera Mound may in a somewhat similar 
sense be spoken of as a compressed counterpart to the dosses 
and other plebeian portions of the Burgh, since from these 
were brought most of the bodies that '^ heaped and pent" 



136 ICSUOBUlifi OF ST. mCHABL's. 

• 

were here '' in one dark burial bleat/' Not tbat the victans 
of the epidemic were confined to the poor. Th^ 2^ first 
sojSered most severelj, but before a month had gone, it 
seemed to matter little whether the inhabitants abode in 
noisome aUeys or in patrician squares, ''in the vilest 
rookeries of the Yennel,'' or in stately mansions at the 
West-end, all places being indiscriminately visited, and no 
respect of persons paid by the plague. Those who had, 
when alive, acquired a right to lie in their own family plots 
were generally carried thither for interment, even during the 
confusion of the crisis ; and, as a consequence, the remains of 
the rid^ bear a small {»x>portion only to those oi the poor, by 
which this endosure is peopled. 

The first death from chdlera in Dumfries occurred on the 
15th of September. For the 1st of October the record showed 
fifty-six new cases and twenty-three deaths, while next day 
it reached its culminating point, rising to fifty-five new cases 
and fifty-four deaths. Fatal cases continued to occur daily 
till the 30th October, which proved a bkhk day ; and by the 
middle of November the disease had fairly disappeared. 
During its stay it desolated scores of homesteads, leaving 
'' many a sweet babe fatherless, and many a widow mourning," 
and sometimes sweeping whole families into eternity. As 
officially reported, 837 persons were attacked, of whom 421 
died ; but the number of coffins made, and the heavy sexton's 
bills, as based upon the burial-roU, went to shew that the real 
deaths were greater in number and probably not fewer than 
550. The sister burgh of Maxwelltown suffered about as 
much, population considered, the cases there having been 237, 
and the deaths 127. Beneath the turf, on which we now 
gaze — kept green even in winter by the rich soil below — at 
least 350 coffined bodies were laid, piled tier upon tier, with 
quicklime scattered between. The cavity was made eighteen 
feet deep, and extended as the demand for accommodation 
rapidly and fearfully increased, and the grave-diggers had to 
ply their implements in harmony, with the dismtd l>eaih- 
Stave ; " I gather them in ; I gather them in !" Seven strata^ 
forming seven separate stories, make up this vast chaibel 



MSHORIALS OF ST. MICHABL'S. 137 

house ; and to commemorate the fate of its occupants, but 

not their names, as these have vanished, a neat upright 

slab rises in the middle of the Mound, bearing the following 

inscription : 

" In this Cemetery, and chiefly within this enclosure, lie the mortal 
remains of more thim 420 inMbitaats of Dumfries, who were suddexily 
swept away by the memorable invasion of Asiatic cholera, A.D., 
liDOOOXXXii. That terrific pestilence entered the town on 15th 
September, and remained till 27th November, during whuh period It 
seized at least 900 individuals, of whom 44 died in one day, and no 
more than 415 were reported as recovered. That the benefit of this 
solemn warning might not be lost to.posterity, this Monument was 
erected, from collections made in several churches in this town." 

" Ps. xo. — Thou tumest man to destruction ; and sayest, £etam, 
yB children of men. . T hou carriest them away as with a flood.** 

** Mat. XXV. 18. — ^W atch, therefore, for ye know neither the day 
nor the hour." 

When, a few years back, the Eev. Mr. Bryson (now of 
Alloa) was minister of St. MichaeFs, he preached an appro- 
priate and eloquent sermon on the cholera visitation, at the 
close of which a collection was made, which was employed in 
repairing the enclosure and planting it with evergreens. 

Dumfries also suffered much from a second attack of 
cholera in 1848 ; the cases numbered about 600, and the 
deaths 317 ; but though thus destructive it created no panic, 
as it had done on the £rst occasion. In proceeding to the 
burial-place used in 1832 we passed the one where were 
interred at least 250 of those who fell, fatally plague-stricken, 
in 1848. It stretches under the common pathway that runs 
&om near the Duncow monument northwards towards Bums*a 
Mausoleum — having upon it no monumental stone, nor any- 
thing whatever to indicate that such a multitude of those 
who were once our fellow-townsfolks lie mouldering below. 
"This is not as it should be ; but the long neglected duty 
might still be paid — " better late than never." 

Dreadfully scourged by cholera, Dumfries waked up to the 
necessity of securing a plentiful supply of wholesome water, 
and otherwise improving its sanitary condition ; and having 
prosecuted both aims with success, its salubrity was greatly 
promoted, and it is now as healthy a town as is to be found 
within the United Kingdom. 




PABALLEL WITH THE SOUTHERN WALK. 

£ YOND the Mound a little we reach two handsome 
erections — one in memory of David Newall Irving^ 
aged 31, Thomas Irving, aged 12, and three of 
their youthful brothers, children of ex-Dean William 
Irving, shoemaker; another commemorating Elizabeth 
Anderson, died 16th March 1832, aged 33, spouse of 
Convener Alexander Lookup, who belonged to a family 
that were long connected with the leather trade of 
the Burgh. This latter stone adjoins the Gibson monument, 
and with the notice of it our survey of the whole outer circle 
of the Cemetery is completed. Turning back, we proceed 
from west to east along a mortuary section lying north of 
and parallel with the Southern Walk. It contains folly 
fifty erections, most of them headstones, with five or 
six tables and about a dozen of a more ambitious aspect. 

A neat headstone bears a fine French inscription in 
memory of Agnes Smith, wife of Captain Stephen Victor 
de Pracki, at present an efficient teacher of French and other 
modem languages. She died at Hutton Lodge, Carlaverock, 
on the 2d June 1868, aged 34. The epitaph, which is very 
similar to one inscribed on an older tombstone behind the 
Church, is as follows : 

" Ta main bienfaisaiite et oh^rie 
D'nn Polonaifl vint easuTor les pleurs 
Tu me tint lieu de parents de patrie 

Le mdme tombeau lonque tu m'es ravie 
Benferme no8 deux coeurs." 

For the tasteful versified translation subjoined we are in- 
debted to our townsman, Mr. A. L. Finlay, who is an excellent 
linguist : — 

" Thou came'st with tender ever-loving hand, 

The Polish exile's tears to wipe away. 
Thou wast to him as friends and fatherland, 
Now in one grave by ruthless Death's command. 

Two hearts ie buried with thy hallowed olay." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 139 

Stephen V. de Pracki, the husbaad of the lady thus commemo- 
rated, belongs to a patrician family in Poland, aided the 
movements that were entered upon for the liberation of his 
country in 1848, and next year he joined the Italian army 
and had the honour of fighting under Garibaldi at the siege 
of Borne. He took part afterwards in the Hungarian war of 
independence. Since 1852 Captain Pracki has resided in this 
country, enjoying the protection of the British Government. 
He is a naturalized Scotsman ; and has for the last ten years 
sojourned in Dumfries, receiving the respect due to his ex- 
cellent character, and the sympathy to which he is entitled 
as a political refugee. 

The east front of the same stone bears an inscription com- 
memorating some of Mrs. Pracki's relatives : James Irving, 
hosier, died 19th April, 1851, age not mentioned ; Agnes 
Blount, his wife, " she lived highly respected and died deeply 
regretted ''; James, their son, an Excise officer, on whom the 
same encomium is passed, died 27th July, 1827 ; Isabella 
their daughter, and two other children, who died in infancy. 

On another neat headstone we read the names of Agnes 
Gillespie, died 6th September, 1835, aged 27, wife of WiUiam 
M'Kie, smith and bell-hanger ; their infant daughter Ann ; 
and his second wife, Agnes Berridge, died 12th September, 
1850, aged 46. Other stones similar in form rise in the same 
section to commemorate the following : John Grierson, inn- 
keeper, died 30th November 1843, aged 41 ; Catherine Napier, 
wife of Robert Richardson, innkeeper, died 9th October 1832, 
aged 58 ; Margaret Herbertson, wife of James Richardson, 
merchant, died 13th October 1832, aged 41 ; David Brown, 
mason, died 12th June 1819, aged 47, with Isabella M*Lachlan, 
his spouse ; Hannah Robson, wife of James Johnston, died at 
Maxwelltown, 3d April 1874, aged 61, and William, their son, 
who died when 34 ; Agnes Robson, spouse of John Rae, 
mariner, died 9th March 1838, aged 29, with four of his 
children, who died when young ; John WEjslj, an ingenious 
wood carver and gilder, died 28th April 1844, aged 43, with 
three of his infant children ; Thomas Penny, brewer, died 13th 
December 1829, aged 52, with Marion Horsburgh, his wife^ 



140 XEXORIALS OF ST. VICHASL*8. 

and two daughters : Bobert Clark, seamaiiy drowned at Bow 
Scaur, 28th May 1832, and his wife, Maiy Maids ; John 
Brockie, joiner, died 3d September 1836, aged 61, with 
Enphemia Btirrell, his wife, and their son John, cabinet- 
maker, died at 21 ; Joan Irving, wife of John Pattie, died 
Ist November 1855, aged 54, with her young daughter 
Sarah ; George Stevenson, baker, died 16th May 1854, aged 
40, with Mary Maxwell, his spouse, Bobert, their son, who 
died at 16, ''a ship boy on the high and giddy mast," Greorge, 
another son, who was two years older, and Agnes, cut off in 
childhood; Joseph Crosbie, Maxwelltown, died 9th Sep- 
tember 1837, aged 61, with his spouse, Helen Allan, and 
their sons, Bobert who died at 23, and Thomas Groldie, 
joiner, who died at 25 ; James Johnston, carter, died 9th 
May 1846, aged 68, with his wife Helen Blackstock, their 
son Thomas, who died at 15, and other descendants ; Thomas 
Smithson, hatter, died 19th December 1830, aged 55 ; Thomas 
Holt, an ''exile of Erin," who carried on business as a 
crystal merchant in the Burgh, dying 23d December 1827, 
aged 66 ; his fellow-countryman, Thomas Morgan, broker, 
died 14th October 1832, aged 64, with Leah Bums, his wife ; 
John Cowan, carter, died 20th April 1837, aged 70 ; William 
Wilson, another carter, died 6th October 1850, aged 56, with 
Agnes Moffat, his spouse, their ofi&pring — ^Alexander, who 
died when 44, David when 17, James, lost at sea, and two 
others who died in childhood ; Alexander Moffat, died at 
Maxwelltown, 12th June 1832, aged 70, with Margaret 
Smith, his spouse ; and Maiy Smith, milliner, who, the in- 
scription states, 

"Died of Asiatic cholera, after twelve hours* illiiess, 14th Octob^ 
1832, affed 51. She possessed the esteem and confidence oi a wide 
circle of acquaintance, was ever ready to assist the distressed, aod hy 
precept and example displayed many Christian virtues. She had no 
lear of death, and died in the hope of a blessed resurrection." 

!For several generations past there have always been 
fleshers in Dumfries of the name of Selkirk : and a stone in 
this section commemorates one of them, Bobert, a respectable 
tradesman, died 8th September 1862, aged 45 ; his young 
son, John P. Selkirk, sleeping by his side. The Beatties, all 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 141 

old Border clan, have also long had representatives in the 
Burgh belonging to the cooper craf t, one of whom, Eobert, a 
worthy man, died 5th December 1848, aged 49, rests near 
hjy with his wife, Margaret Boyd Monteith, and two daugh- 
ters, Marion who died when a child, and Margaret at 16. 
Writing in 1832, Mr. M'Diarmid says : " Clogs or wooden 
shoes form another item in the exports of Dumfries and 
Maxwelltown ; and we have good authority for stating that 
at least ;£1000 is realised annually by this traffic."^ At that 
date the trade was chiefly in the hands of the late Bailie 
Hammond. It is now carried on to a larger extent than 
ever by, among others, Mr, David Wjrper, whose family 
burial place appears in this section, the neat headstone 
which marks the spot bearing the name of his wife, Janet 
Smith, died 22d December 1848, aged 38 : the inscription 
adds that " She was much respected, and her decease deeply 
regretted ;" and it commemorates also Joseph, their son, who 
died in childhood, and William Smith, father of Mrs. 
Wyper, who died 4th January 1827, aged 46. 

Two boys, both of whom died in March 1842, the sole 
children of James Lemmon, Wesleyan minister, and Mary 
Jane, his wife, are commemorated by a neat little head- 
stone. The prefix ^'Bev.'' is not attached to the father's 
name ; but it might have been, without provoking opposi- 
tion from the minister of St. Michael's or his Session. A 
neighbouring stone actually bears the designation for in- 
scribing which on a monument in an English churchyard a 
Methodist divine was recently prosecuted by the parish 
vicar, and, after a vexatious litigation, only obtained a 
vindication of his right to use the term from the supreme 
ecclesiastical court.t A quiet rebuke to all such assumptions 
as that of the vicar is conveyed by the inscription under 
notice, which runs thus : 

* Picture of Dumfries. 

f 73i6 case here referred to is thai of the Bev. Heniy Eleet. 
Wfldeyan minister, v. the vioar of Qwsten-Fernr, which oooMionea; 
much public ezdtement when it occozred, in 187&. 



142 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

" Saored to the memory of James William Haughton, who departed 
this life 20th March 1847, aged 2 years and 17 days. The above was 
the son of the Rev. James Hanghton, Wesleyan minister, Dumfries, 
and Ann, his wife." 

In no section of the Cemetery, size considered, do we find 
such a numerous array as this of monuments commemorating 
old people, the figures in many instances telling of a much 
more lengthened life tenure than the ultimatum assigned by 
the Boyal Psalmist. Some of these yeterans are named in 
the following list, and others at intervals till the close of 
the chapter : Janet M'Gowan died in 1832, aged 75, her 
daughter Agnes Landrough died in 1827, at 44; John 
Garmery died 15th November 1814, aged 74, with his spouse 
Janet Holmes, died 17th September 1626, aged 79, and Mary 
Affleck, spouse of his brother Bobert, died 2d April 1844, 
aged 64 ; Janet Hair died 3d December 1833, aged 87, and 
Jacobina M'Naught died 31st January 1855, aged 66 ; 
James M'Michael, a much respected merchant, who stood 
erect behind his counter while bearing the burden of four- 
score, and was still hale and hearty a few days before he 
died, 16th October 1852, aged 83 : his son James, died at 
38, and two infant children being also named in the in- 
scription ; Hugh Farish, grain-dealer, died 9th January 
1862, aged 81, with Jean Fead, his wife, and five children, 
including Jean, who died at 16 ; three residenters at Gass- 
town, born long before that village came into existence — 
James Bussell died Ist October 1871, aged 78, his wife, 
Elizabeth Blackstock; Helen Watson Bussell, died 21st 
January 1833, aged 84, Jane, daughter of the latter, died 
24th December 1851, aged 75 ; Henrietta Gillespie, mother 
of Bobert Houston in Broomrig, died 13th November 1846, 
aged 95, with Agnes Grierson, spouse of Mr. Houston, died 
226th November 1863, aged 67, and William, their son. 

All the above names appear on headstones ; and next the 
stone which bears the inscription last quoted rises an altar 
monument in memory of William Houston, mason, died 28th 
September 1832, aged 45, his spouse Janet M^enzie, 
and two infant grandchildren. On other tabular erec- 
tions the list of long-aged people is continued : Nicholas 



MBHORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 143 

Allan, relict of James Anderson, farmer in Kirkgunzeon, 
died 30th March 1829, aged 84, with her daughter Isobel, 
"who died at 52 : Martha Scott, relict of Lieutenant 
James Scott, Boyal Navy, died 4th January 1826, aged 
79, Elizabeth, their daughter, died at 74, and three 
grandsons, Robert, who died at 49, George, an advocate, 
died at 28, and William, at 18 ; William Haim'ng, son of 
Alexander Haining of Craigs, died 7th October, 1825, aged 
73, with Margaret Oliver, his wife, Thomas, his brother, died 
in MaxweUtown, 13th February 1847, aged 85, and Robert, 
another brother, died at Mile-House, Dumfries, 21st April 
1849, aged 84. 

These venerable persons are all commemorated by simple 
headstones or tables ; but at the west end of the section an 
imposing monument rises in memory of a worthy matron, 
Jane Garmery, whose age exceeds any yet mentioned, she 
having lived to be 99, her death occurring at Disdow, 5th 
January, 1870 : she was the spouse of Robert Waugh, hay 
and grain-dealer, who is also named in the inscription, died 
31st May 1833, aged 61 ; together with their children, Agnes, 
who died at 17, and Thomas, at 22. 

Tallow-chandling is still one of the industries of the Burgh, 
and before the illuminating " dips " or more patrician waxen 
tapers grew pale under the brilliant lustre of gaslight, much 
of the trade was carried on by a family named Riddick, some 
members of which are commemorated on two stately monu- 
ments near by : the inscriptions include the names of Samuel 
Biddick, died 6th June 1853, aged 55, of his wife, Jean 
M'Kune, and five of their offspring, whose " light of life " 
was rudely blown out in early years. But the life of man, 
even when extended like that of the veterans we have 
just been noticing, is but as a momentary vapour compared 

with eternity. 

" Out, ont, brief candle. 
Life's but a walkmg shadow ; a poor nlayer, 
Ihat struts and frets his hour upon tne stage, 
^d then is heard no more!" 

Several stately erections face the walk in front of this 
section, the first of them being one raised in honour of an 



144 HEMOKIALS OV ST. XICHAXL's. 

honest, warm-liearted, and benevolent citizen of Diimfiries, 
Mr. Bobert Bell, ironmonger, died 3d October I860, aged 61 : 
Mr. Bell was for many years an able and popular member of 
the Town CounciL His wife, Elizabeth Kennedy ; their 
dan^^ter, Jean Elizabeth, wife of Bobert Falkner, who 
died when 36, at Prestwich Park, Manchester, their son 
John, who died when 23, and stepson James M^ay, mer- 
chant, Birmingham, who died when 40, are also named upon 
the monument. 

The next monument conunemorates David M'Gill, for 
many years an influential citizen of Dumfries. For a con- 
siderable period during the old dose system, he occupied a 
seat in the Town Council, and he took a leading part in the 
movement for popularising its constitution by means of the 
Beform Bill. During his later years, as tenant of Botchell 
farm, which is still held by members of his family, he mani> 
fested characteristic energy and skilL Mr. M'Gill died on 
March 7th 1855, at the age of 63. The monument also com- 
memorates his wife, Margaret Irving, and two of their off» 
spring, who died in early childhood. 

When the classical department of the Dumfries Academy 
was presided over by the late Bector Harkness, he could 
number among his cleverest pupils a youth named Bobert 
Daniel, who won numerous prizes, and who, when arrived at 
man's estate, occupied the position of a dux among the mer- 
chants of Baltimore. A monument erected by him in 1840, 
to the memory of his parents, is next arrived at, the in- 
scription stating that his father, Thomas Daniel, died 13th 
October 1832, at the advanced age of 82, his mother, Alice 
Nash, at 65 ; and recording the names also of their children- 
— John died at 24, Joseph at 44, Jane at 36, Isabella, spouse, 
of Peter Williamson, died at 43, and William, cut off in in- 
fancy. At a more recent date the inscription was enlarged, 
in order to announce his own death, which occurred at 
Dawlish, in Devonshire, 17th June 1873, when he was 69. 
Mr. Daniel manifested his continued interest in the alma 
mater of his early days by bequeathing a considerable legacy 
to the Academy. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL^S. 145 

Further east, an oblong, upright stone of grey granite attracts 
attention on account of its massive yet graceful appearance, 
and its exquisitely carved quatref oil, shewing a white dove 
with olive branch, emblematic of the faith that soars 
triumphantly over "the swellings of Jordan." This fine 
monument is "sacred to the memory of Thomas Harkness, 
writer, died 31st October 1832, aged 35 f of his wife, Jessie 
Elizabeth Comrie ; and of their children, including William 
who died at 18, Thomas James at 38, and Catherine, wife 
of William Evans, at 2?. Mr. Harkness was partner of 
WiUiam Grordon, who still survives at a venerable age ; and 
he was a brother of the late Bector Harkness, and of Dr. 
Harkness, formerly Principal of Elphinstone College, Madras, 
a distinguished Oriental scholar, now residing at Albany 
House, Dumfries. 

Additional instances of longevity are recorded on other 
stones facing the walk. One of these tells of John Black, 
merchant, who "lived highly respected and his decease 
deeply regretted,^ and Jane Rae, his widow, the former 
dying 1st January 1849, aged 74, the latt,er 3d May 1863, 
aged 76 : their son William, merchant, died 4th October 
1861, aged 36, and their other son, John, who followed the 
same occupation, died 29th April 1874, aged 54, are also 
niamed upon the monument. 

A neatly kept compartment is next reached, in which rises 
the monument of an industrious and enterprising tradesman, 
Edward Grierson, joiner, died 18th July 1865, aged 75 : 
it commemorates also his sons, William, Robert, and 
Bichard, who died in boyhood, Alexander, who died at 26, 
and two other children, who died in infancy. Mr. Grierson 
erected many buildings on his own account; and an ex- 
tensive range of houses built on Corbelly Hill by his son 
John is named " Grierson's Terrace." 

Still proceeding eastward, we notice a stately structure, 
erected in memory of John Kelly, died 31st October 1832, 
aged 79 ; Janet Chalmera, his spouse ; John Kelly, grain- 
dealer, their son, who followed the same business, died at 
63, Jean, their daughter, who died at 68, and Thomas, also 

J 



146 MBM0IUAL8 OF ST. MICHASL's. 

a grftin-djoaler, who died 13th January 1865, aged 83 ; and 
Agnes M^Geoige, wife of James Kelly, farmer, Highmains, 
Carlaverock. 

Near by rests one of the patriarchs of the Dumfries 
drapery trade, William Howat, a man of probity and piety, 
''diligent in business, serving the Lord/' From his com- 
modious premises on the Plainstones, which superseded the 
old town-house of Lag at the Turnpike, many young men, 
getting the benefit of a good start, have gone forth to the 
goal of mercantile success : Mr. Howat died 28th December 
1861, aged 75 ; his wife, Jane Hyslop, their daughter Jane, 
who died at 11, and their son Andrew at 5, are with him- 
self named upon the family monument. 

To John Weir, a prosperous saddler of the Burgh, and his 
spouse, Margaret Coulthard, who belonged to a family long 
connected with that branch of business, a stately monument 
is devoted. He died 28th October 1867, aged 67. Their 
daughter Agnes is also named in the inscription ; together 
with her three infant children, by her husband, John Fallas, 
who carries on the trade of his late father-in-law. A small 
side stone commemorates Joseph Coulthard, saddler, died 
17th April 1830, aged 28, and his two infant children. 

John Clark, who acquired a fortune in Louisiana, and, like 
many other hatives who have prospered abroad, returned to 
spend his declining years on the banks of Nith, died at 
Laurieknowe, Maxwelltown, 9th April 1866, aged 87, and 
lies buried in the next compartment. The monument 
which bears his name was at first erected by hiipi in 
memory of his mother, Margaret Scott, who died 5th 
November 1855, on reaching the patriarchal age of 97. 
Claire Clark, a daughter of the merchant, who died at 20 ; 
and Annie Cox, his grandniece, died at 25, wife of William 
Biggar, Koyal Bank, are included in the inscription. 

" In memory of Andrew Wardrop, who died 26th August 
1869, aged 64 years." Such is the laconic inscription upon 
the tombstone — ^a graceful oblong block— of one who was full 
of natural eloquence, and made more speeches than any local 



HEUOBIALS OF ST. HICHABL'S. 147 

• 

layman of his day. Born in Glasgow, he came to Dumfries 
in 1837, and while working as a framesmith, he became a 
devoted disciple of Mr. James Broom, when that gentleman 
with others unfurled the banner of total abstinence in the 
district. It was whilst pleading on its behalf that Mr. 
Wardrop developed his extraordinary oratorical faculty, 
which for many years had no parallel in the town or parish. 
To the schoolmaster he was very little indebted ; of grammar 
he knew nothing, but he had great natural gifts, sharpened 
by a sort of rough self -culture. He had a prodigious memory, 
that enabled him to store up a vast array of facts, which 
formed the ready, raw material of the wonderful "yams" 
which he could weave out at a moment's warning. Phreno- 
logists saw in him a striking proof of their science, his ful- * 
ness of eye shesring, they said, that an immense organ of 
language lay behind, while his great powers of observation, 
and ability to discriminate differences and agreements, gave 
an amplitude to his brain in the regions of comparison and 
the perceptive faculties. Not for temperance only did the 
deceased make his ringing voice heard here and all the 
country round. The middle classes had been enfranchised 
by the Beform Bill of 1832; but that measure left the 
toiling millions, those who helped to win it, in the cold 
shade ; and he demanded such a supplementary bill as 
would bring them into the sunshine of political privilege. 
Accordingly the National Petition of the Birmingham Union 
with its five points, and the People's Charter with its six, 
found in Mr. Wardrop a most zealous, outspoken, and per- 
sistent advocate. But, with all his freedom of speech, he, 
unlike some demagogues of the time, always avoided the 
use of seditious language, never rounding a period with the 
words, " Peaceably if we may, forcibly if we must ;" and 
like the greatest of all modem political agitators, Daniel 
CConnell, firmly repudiating an appeal to physical force, in 
the full assurance that "freedom's battle" could be gained 
without' resorting to pike or gun. Three of " the points," or 
measures all but equivalent, have actually been won, and 
that without violence ; whether the remaining three — annual 



148 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Parliaments, payment of members, and equal electoral dis- 
tricts — will also be secured by and bye is, we suppose, an 
open question. How, in June 1841, this man of bumble 
grade became so popular with the " masses " of the electoral 
district that they made him an M.P., must be well re- 
membered by many of our readers. For three days, in 
virtue of a show of hands, he occupied a senatorial position 
at the expense of the two other candidates, Mr. William 
Ewart (who was returned at the poll) and Sir Alex- 
ander Johnston. On entering the post-office as a letter- 
carrier, which he did a few years afterwards, Mr. Wardrop 
had to give up politics, but he still continued his advocacy 
of teetotalism ; and he did valuable service as a member of 
'the Dumfries and Galloway Building Society and of the 
Parochial Board ; and latterly as a Town Councillor, which 
office was held by him when he died. 

The name of his wife, Sarah Goold, who predeceased him, 
also appears on the monument ; and an adjacent headstone 
preserves the names of three young children, the offspring of 
her brother, John Goold, framesmith. 

While this section is profusely occupied with relics of very 
aged people, there lie cradled beside them not a few who 
were snatched away when "mewling and puking in the 
nurse's arms," needing now no lullaby to deepen their rest : 
among these are five young children of James M*George 
farmer in Waterside ; three of John Mitchell, provision 
dealer ; an infant daughter of James T. Gardiner ; an infant 
son of Eobert Welsh, farmer, Wellgreen ; and one of Charles 
M*Minn, writer, Gatehouse, but belotoging to Dumfries. 




OH-A.FTER XII. 
ALONG THE SECOND SOUTHERN FOOTPATH. 

ETURNING westward along the pathway, we pass 
a row of imposing structures, resembling in no 
small degree those which fringe the Southern Walk, 
both as regards architectural form and evergreen surroud- 
ings. How replete with interest it is to all Dumfriesians, 
and many besides, may be inferred when we state that the 
masonry of the section overlooks the graves of such notable 
men, among others, as Provost M'Gk)wan, Bailie Harkness, 
and the Rev. Walter Dunlop. 

We reach first the resting place of one who, though he 
acquired neither municipal rank nor ministerial status, yet 
exercised much beneficial influence in his day and generation. 
At a period when lay evangelists were less frequently met 
with than now, Charles Gillies, though working industriously 
as an upholsterer in Gregan & Creighton's establishment, 
found time for other work on which his heart was deeply set 
— the religious tuition of the young, the visitation of the 
sick, the exhortation of the careless — ^his labours being 
rendered doubly effective by the circumstance that he was 
emphatically a good man, a living epistle, illustrating by his 
example the precepts which he taught. He died on the 3d 
February 1838, aged 74. His wife, Jean Peden, descended 
from "Peden the Prophet," proved to him a help-meet 
indeed. To her the Ladies' Free School, Green Sands, 
owes its origin. Her name appears on the monument, with 
the names of her husband and several of their children, the 
latter including Andrew Gillies, advocate, who died at 44 ; 
also the names of James Colvin, his son-in-law, who died at 
31, and Sophia, relict of the said James, "who fell asleep in 
Jesus, at Kirkmabreck Manse, on Sabbath morning, 6th 
September 1863, aged 64 ;" her son, the Rev. John Oolvin, 
being minister of that parish. An inscription on the plinth 
states that Margaret Peden, sister-in-law of Charles Gillies, 
died 25th June 1844, aged 84. 



150 UEMORIALS OF ST. UICHAEL's. 

Thomas McPherson, who carried on a good business as 
a painter and glazier^ is commemorated by an adjoining 
monument^ which bears also the name of his wife, Catherine 
Fletcher : he died 26th January 1852, when under 60, but 
the age is not stated. A respected baker, Francis Murray, 
lies in the next compartment, died 1st December 1853, aged 
52 ; with his wife, Elizabeth Paterson ; and four of their 
children — ^Francis, Gewge, Roger Cutlar, whose ages are not 
given, and a second Francis, who died at 29. Further west 
a little is the burial-place of the Corsons of Dalwhat, with a 
stone on which we read of William Corson, died 11th March 
1856 ; Samuel Brown, his son-in-law, died at Bamburroch, 
1st July 1833 ; Lilias Corson, wife of the latter ; Jane, l\er 
sister; William Corson, senior, died 29th August 1869, at 
the age of 78, the only age mentioned in the inscription. 

In November 1855, a gentleman of much ability, worth, 
and influence, Mr. William M'Gowan, was chosen chief- 
magistrate of Dumfriea. His name appears on a stately 
monument, the date attached to it shewing that his lease of 
office had but a brief duration, as he died only about a year 
afterwards, to the deep regret* of the community over which he 
ruled. Solicitor, banker, agent for the representative of the 
Burghs (Mr. Ewart), he was able to fill all these offices effi- 
ciently, and yet to devote much time to the business of the 
public. The Water Scheme, which we have had to mention 
repeatedly, received from Provost M'Gowan a hearty ad- 
vocacy, and he was always ready to promote any other 
movement that was fitted to subserve the interests of the 
community. He was long the recognised leader of the 
Liberal party at a time when political warfare was carried 
on in the municipality more keenly than it has been of late 
years ; and in that capacity he was frequently confronted 
by Mr. John Fraser, the Conservative chief, who died 
during the same year and occupies an adjacent grave. Mr. 
M'GrO'^an expired when in office, 17th November 1856, at 
the age of 62. His wife, Jane Hairstens ; four of their 
young children, two of whom died in infancy; Margaret 
B. Irving, spouse of John M'Gowan, draper ; and Maggie 



UXMOBIALS OF 8T. KICHAEL's. 151 

M'Knight, his second wif e, are also commemorated, bj the 
monuznent. 

Within the same compartment ttro upright slabs axe 
placed— one in memory of John M'Gowan, draper, Dum- 
fries, died 12th April 1824, aged 66, l^argaret Halliday, 
his spouse, and Mary, their daughter, who died at 45 ; the 
other bears in remembrance John M'Gowan, writer, Peebles, 
died 24th April 1852, aged 66, Eachel Lindsay, his wife, and 
their son, John Anstruther, a brave and accomplished officer, 
who lost his life in the Crimean war : he served as Brigadier- 
Major of the 39th Highlanders, and died of his wounds 
when a prisoner in Sebastapol, 14th August 1855, at the 
early age of 35. 

We next reach a tombstone which commemorates several 
members of a family who felt pride (as well they might) in 
numbering among their ancestors Thomas Harkness of Mit- 
chelslacks, who suffered martyrdom for " Christ'^ Crown and 
Covenant," and his brother James, also condemned to die by 
Claverhouse, but who effected his escape from prison, and 
after twenty years of bitter persecution, lived to enjoy the 
sweets of the Bevolution Settlement at his farm-house of 
Locherben. The inscription on the monument states that it 
is in memory of Elizabeth Corrie, widow of William Hark- 
ness, farmer, of Holestane and Branrig, died 2d December 
1848, aged 72 ; also of Thomas Harkness, writer and Com- 
missary Clerk, who died in London, 13th August 1860, aged 
60 ; and two brothers of the latter — ^Walter, a surgeon, 
died in Canada, 3d January 1834, aged 33, and George, 
lieutenant of the 61st Foot Eegiment, who was unfor- 
tunately drowned at Trincomalee, Ceylon, 22d May 1837, 
aged 29. 

In honour of Thomas Harkness, writer, best known to his 
later contemporaries as Bailie Harkness, we might well 
devote half a chapter, but a tribute of much smaller dimen- 
sions must suffice. He was bom at the town of L' Assumption, 
Lower Canada, of which province his mother was also a native. 
Two years afterwards (in 1802) his parents settled down on 
the hereditary acres of Holestane, Upper Nithsdale ; and 



152 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL^S. 

when fully a dozen more years had elapsed, we find young 
Harkness serving an apprenticeship as a writer's derk in 
Dumfries, and by 1828 taking an active and creditable part 
in public affairs. Inheriting a good organization, mental and 
physical, due perhaps to his doughty Covenanting ancestors, 
and with an ardent temperament, in which the French 
fervour of his mother was discernible, he at an early age 
became one of our leading men. Politically, " the times were 
out of joint," and to make them better he strove with aU his 
might and main, through the press, by personal correspond- 
ence, and from the platform. The Test and Corporation Acts 
and the Boman Catholic Disabilities Act still disgraced the 
statute-book ; the Corn Laws were in full force, making the 
food of the people artificially scarce and dear ; and the 
electoral franchise was a monopoly of the favoured few, who 
too often used it in opposition to the interests of the many : 
against all these sources of grievance, Mr. Harkness used his 
ready pen and raised his powerful voice — the Party of Pro- 
gress having no more zealous or able member throughout the 
whole South of Scotland than he. Possessed of much natural 
eloquence and enthusiasm, he as it were threw his whole 
heart into his lips when denouncing the corrupt borough- 
mongers or the obstiuate obligarchs who withstood the 
popular cause, and also when appealing in favour of Eeligious 
Liberty, Free-trade, and Eeform, ever sure in such cases to 
carry his audience with him and to elicit ringing cheers from 
them in attestation of his oratorical success. Mr. Harkness 
was a member of the first Beformed Town Council of Dum- 
fries, receiving from it a bailieship in recognition of his 
services, local and general A few years afterwards a more 
lucrative prize fell to his lot — ^that of commissary clerkship, 
which he obtained on the death of its previous possessor, Mr. 
Threshie, senior. As part proprietor and editor of the Dum- 
fries Times for several years, he used the increased influence 
which that position gave him in the good old direction ; the 
same may be said of him when he proceeded with the staff 
and plant of the establishment to Stranraer, where he dropjDed 
the Twfies and brought out the Wigtownshire Free Press in its 



HBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 153 

stead. To his other attainments Mr. Harkneas added a tsuate 
for and great knowledge of rural affairs. This being the case 
it is not so wonderful as it would otherwise have seemed that 
we find him soon afterwards domiciled away in Dublin as secre- 
tary of the Irish Agricultural Society, which office he occupied 
efficiently, though, we fancy, he was not sorry when circum- 
stances led him to set up his staff anew in the Burgh, with 
which he had been so long identified. Once more a resident 
in Dumfries, his last services as such were perhaps his greatest, 
rendered, as they were, on behalf of the Water Scheme. 
Writing of what he did, in an obituary notice, we used the 
following language : " He was emphatically the Hercules of 
that arduous undertaking, and in saying so we could not 
suggest a better tributary inscription for the tombstone 
of Mr. Harkness, as the scheme which he did so much 
to realise has been instrumental in killing a hydra brood of 
fever, and in cleaning many places that were once foul as the 
stables of Augea." He breathed his last at Harrow-on-the- 
Hill while acting there as guardian of two youthful relatives ; 
and his remains were laid in the metropolitan cemetery of 
Norwood, beside those of his loving wife, who predeceased 
him only a few months. Warm-hearted, benevolent, gener- 
ous, and gifted, his name will long be cherished in the 
district, though a generation has sprung up that knows him 
only by report, and though his dust is mouldering far away 
from the town that was ever uppermost in his thoughts while 
life endured. 

His brother, Christopher Harkness, a most amiable and 
useful citizen, died Provost of Dumfries, 17th October 1872, 
aged 63, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's. 

On the adjacent monument, a handsome one of Gothic 
design, we read, as follows, the appropriately pious epitaph 
of a very worthy pair : 

"The burjring-place of James Milligan of Eastfield, by Dumfries. 
In the faith that ' death shall be swallowed up in victory,' here have 
been laid the mortal remains of his wife, Ann Inglis, who died 12th 
February 1860, in hope of a blessed resurrection. By her side, in 
the hope of together with her putting on immortality, lies the body 
of her husband, who died 27th November 1862 — * looking for the 
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.'" 



154 MBMOBIALS 07 ST. MICHABL's. 

Mr. Milligan was a schoolmaster by profession, a genUeman 
of culture, and a devoted elder of the United Presbjtemn 
Church. His wife was a daughter of the Ber. William 
Inglis, and her sister was married to the Ber. James Clyde, 
both of the same religious denomination. 

A neatlj kept enclosure, the property of ex-Bailie Car- 
ruthers, is next arrived at, where flowers are seen blooming 
nearly all the year round ; and below, as a handsome monu- 
ment tells US, lie two human flowerets : Sarah Elizabeth 
Birrell Carruthers, cut off when quite a child, and her infant 
sister, Maggie Ellen. 

" Death gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 
Ue lossed their drooping leaves ; 
It was for the Lord of Paradise 
He bound them in his sheaves. 

'My Lord has need of these flowerets gay/ 

The Beaper said, and smiled ; 
*Dear tokens of the earth are they. 

Where he was once a child. 

' They shall all bloom in fields of light, 

Transplanted by my care ; 
And saints upon their garments white 

These sacred blossoms wear.' 

Oh ! not in cruelty, nor in wrath, 

The Beaper came that day ; 
'T was an angel visited the green earth, 

And took the flowers away." 

Passing on we come to a tombstone thus inscribed : — 

" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. "Walter Dunlop, who died on 
the 4th November 1846, in the 73d year of his age and the 4^ of Ms 
ministry." 

For fully thirty-five years he officiated in that capacity 
over a congregation that owed its existence to such a seem- 
ingly trifling circumstance as a quarrel about a pulpit gown ; 
which casus heUi the Belief minister would wear in opposition 
to many of his people, who consequently set up a meeting- 
house of their own on the Burghers' Brae, Buccleuch Street, 
and gave a call to Mr. Dunlop, bom in Haddingtonshire, and 
at that time officiating in Liddesdale. Soon after his induc- 
tion he gave evidence of being no ordinary individual. Tall, 
and even when young inclined to corpulency, his outward 
man was remarkable. His face, reposing on a sonsie double^ 



HEM0RIAL8 OF ST. MICHAJBL's. 165 

chin, bespoke quiet self-reliance, a lore of social intercourse, 
humour, wit, shrewdness, also active observing powen, which 
enabled him with " sharpened sly inspection " to see farther 
than most folks into the millstone grit of human character. 
Ere long he became known far and wide as a humourist ; and 
while acquiring more than a local reputation as such, he was 
proving himself to be an eloquent expounder of gospel 
doctrine and a devoted pastor, a^iduously building up his 
congregation till it became numerous and flourishing. Mr. 
Dunlop is remembered by many on account of his bon-mots 
and jokes ; and thousands who have heard of him as a famous 
wit, are ignorant of the circumstance that he was also distin- 
guished as a preacher. His pulpit oratory was of a rich yet 
homely cast, that rendered it acceptable to every class ; not 
too high or rhetorical for the simple or unlearned, it was 
sufficiently elevated for the man of taste, thus presenting a 
good medium for the edification of a flock composed as his 
was of town and country people in about equal proportions. 
In the pulpit as out of it, Mr. Dunlop, scorning the use of 
notes, " ay free off hand his story told," rendering it all the 
more impressive by appropriate attitude and action. *' Simple, 
grave, sincere," he was "in doctrine uncorrupt," full of 
unction, and thoroughly evangelical. Occasionally, but rarely, 
wittidsms found their way into his pulpit utterances ; as for 
instance, when on a weekly preaching day at a neighbouring 
village, some of his dilatory hearers were told by way of re- 
buke, that our Lord drove the worldly-minded money- 
changers from the temple with a whip of small cords, whereas 
they at Ecclefechan needed to be driven mto the temple by 
means of a similar weapon. Often, however, he employed 
with telling effect quaint illustrations, as when showing the 
worthlessness of good works to secure pardon, he would say 
that the mountain of man's sin and misery could no more be 
removed by such means than his wee finger could push Criffel 
into the Solway. On the platform his humour flashed forth 
with full license, and his table-talk and social intercourse 
were spiced with pun, rapartee, sarcasm, and mirth-provoking 
anecdote ; his sayings in every case receiving superadded 



156 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

point or breadth from the racy Doric in which they were 
embodied, the spontaneousneas of their birth, and their mode 
of delivery — ^grave, slow, measured, and emphatic. Stand- 
ing as we do beside the grave of Mr. Dunlop, it is grati- 
fying for us to mingle with these reminiscences the recoUec- 
ticms of his pulpit power and of his pastoral fidelity. 
Eminent as a preacher of the Word, he was devotedly atten- 
tive at the couch of suffering, and at the bed of death ; and, 
as we have said of him elsewhere, if his natural temperament 
led him to the house of mirth, it never induced him to neglect 
his visits to the house of mourning. 

The monumeut commemorates also Mr. Dunlop's spouse, 
Janet Maclean, who died on the 12th of June 1828. His 
successor in the pastorate of the United Presbyterian con- 
gregation, Buccleuch Street, is the Bev. Marshal N. Groold. 

The name of an accomplished surgeon, John M^Minn, is 
borne by thfe next monimient : he died at the early age of 
33, 6th October 1827. His eldest son, John, who died at 
the same age in Glasgow, and his infant son, Thomas 
Harkness (named after Mr. M' Minn's brother-in-law, Bailie 
Harkness), are included in the inscription. 

When Bums was tenant of Ellisland, he found in Mr. 
John M'Murdo, chamberlain to the Duke of Queensberry at 
Drumlanrig Castle, a most hospitable companion and patron ; 
and the family circle thus opetied up afforded attractive 
society, proofs of which appear in his correspondence. " Will 
Mr. M'Murdo do me the favour to accept of these volumes " 
— wrote Bums, when forwarding a copy of his works from 
Dumfries — " a trifling but sincere mark of the very high re- 
spect I bear for his worth as a man, his manners as a gentle- 
man, and his kindness as a friend." Three songs, if not 
more, were composed by Bums on Miss Philadelphia M*- 
Murdo, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of his 
patron, these being "Phillis the Fair," "O Phely, happy 
be that day," and the one beginning — 

" Adown winding Nith I did wander, 

To mark the sweet flowers of the spring ; 
Adown winding Nith I did wander, 
Of PhiUis to muse and to sing." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL*S. 157 

Owing to these a^tsociations, we view with increased interest 
the next monument^ commemorating as it does a son of Mr. 
MTtfurdo, and one of several of his descendants who have 
served their country well by land or sea. The inscription 
states that the stone is 

"Sacred to the memory of lieut. -Colonel Archibald M'Murdo, 
formerly of H.M. 27th Regiment of Foot, and latterly of the Dum- 
friesshire Begiment of the North British Militia, who died at Dum- 
fries on the 11th of October 1829, aged 54 years." 

He was father of the late Colonel M'Murdo of the Scottish 
Borderers; of the late Admiral Archibald M'Murdo of 
Cargenholm; and of Colonel William Montagu MTVIurdo, 
favourite officer of his renowned father-in-law. Sir Charles 
Napier, the hero of Scinde. The monument commemorates 
also his wife, Catherine Martha Wilson ; their young 
daughter Mary Ann, and Mrs. Winefred Copenger Sweet- 
man, died 1st June 1826, aged 75. 

We next reach the burial-place of another chief -magistrate, 
John Kerr. He was raised to the civic chair in 1821, and 
on the 3d August of the following year his shoulders received 
the virgin gold chain with which our provosts have since his 
day been decorated. It is a magnificent double chain, the 
cost of which, defrayed by subscription, was nearly ;£150. 
The Rev. Dr. Scot of St. Michael's made the necessary pre- 
sentation speech in name of the donors. Provost Kerr re- 
turning grateful thanks for the glittering badge. It has 
since been worn by nineteen successors, including our pre- 
sent worthy civic chief. Provost Thomas F. Smith. Mr. 
Kerr was re-elected in 1825, and died in office, on the 6th of 
March 1826, aged 53. The monimient to his memory wai 
erected by his brother, Mr. James Kerr. 




ALONO THE THIRD FOOTPATH. 

EFOBE proceeding again eastward, we pause for a 
minute beside the grave of one who wacs famous as 
a municipal magnate in the Queen of the South for 
fully thirty years ; a native of Edinburgh, he entered the 
King's Arms Hotel here in 1819, when in comparatively 
humble circumstances and almost an entire stranger. How 
during his sojourn he prospered in business, and acquired a 
wonderful extent of local influence and rule, is partly ex- 
pressed by the inscription upon his stately tombstone, which 
runs thus ; — 

*' In memory of John Fraser, Esquire of Donievale and the King's 
Arms Hotel, twice Provost and thirty -seven years a member of we 
Town Council of Dumfries, who died 8th May 1856." 

He possessed extraordinary force of character, and without 
any pretensions to eloquence or brilliancy, he could exercise 
an impressive personal influence, due to his mingled suavity 
and power of self-assertion, that was in no small degree 
seductive. Doubtless, too, a portion of the power he exercised 
was due to the circumstance that he was owner and landlord 
of the greatest hotel in the South of Scotland. Many a knotty 
local question was originated, promoted, or otherwise disposed 
of, and many a political game was rehearsed in the snug bar 
parlour of the King's Arms, under the genial presidency of 
Provost Fraser. Politically, he belonged to the Tory party, 
was, in fact, their acknowledged Burgh leader during the criti- 
cal season when they fought and were overcome, but were by no 
means annihilated, in the attempt made by them to witlistand 
the Eeform movement of 1831-2. What his influence lost in 
breadth by his becoming the chief of a party it gained in 
intensity ; and a more devoted body of followers than those 
who owned his leadership he could scarcely have wished for. 
After " serving his time " briefly as a common Councillor, 
he was made a Bailie in 1827 ; before other two years had 
elapsed the ancient chair which bears upon its back the sig- 



XBMOBIALS 07 ST. KICHABL^S. 159 

niHcaiit effigy of St. Michael received him for occupant, and 
we suspect it had never before borne such a portly chief* 
magistrate, Provost Eraser having been a man of mark 
physically not less than mentally. Strong Conservative 
though he was, he accepted the commission of the Town 
Council to vote as th^ir delegate for General Sharpe when 
the latter came forward as a Liberal to contest the Burghs 
with Mr. Keith Douglas in 1831. After the Burgh Eeform 
Act had broken, up the cliques which returned both Parlia- 
mentary and municipal* representatives, Mr. Fraser still re- 
tained much of his supremacy. The last save one of the 
Dumfries Provosts under the old regime, he was a member of 
the first Town Council under the new ; and in 1840 he was 
once more elevated to the provostship, manifesting, as before, 
no small amount of administrative skill. During the last 
twenty years of his life he devoted considerable attention to 
agricultural pursuits. When Douievale became his property, 
it was a bleak portion of Lochar Moss : it is now, as occupied 
by his daughter, Mrs. Ferguson, a fertile and beautiful spot, 
reclaimed from the wilderness by the same sort of energy 
that gave him a mastery over his fellow-men. The deceased 
was strong in his antipathies as in his friendships. When 
some one spoke of Dr. Johnson as being bearish in his man- 
ner, Goldsmith defended his friend by saying he had no more 
of the bear about him than the skin ; and if Mr. Fraser did 
at times seem rough and dictatorial, all who knew him best 
were aware that he was extremely warm-hearted, generous, 
and benevolent, and that these qualities influenced his cha- 
racter, and were habitually manifested in deeds of charity 
and kindness. 

On the monument are the names of his wife Margaret and 
nine of their children — Matthew, who died in infancv ; Mar- 
garet, at 21 ; Eobert, at the same age ; William, at 22 ; 
George, at 23 ; Ann, at 28 ; Alexander, at 32 ; John, at 33 ; 
James, at 34. 

William Walker of Xelton Mains, one of three enterprising 
brothers, two of whom, after making fortunes abroad, re- 
turned to their native Nithsdale, lies in the next compart- 



160 * MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL*S. 

ment. He is described as "forme fly of St. Thomas in the 
East, Jamaica." His death took place 27th October 1820, 
when at the age of 60. Colonel Walker, of Crawfordton, ex- 
M.P. for Dumfriesshire, is of the same family, the deceased 
having been his grand-uncle. The fine monument which 
keeps Mr. Walker in remembrance, is also consecrated to the 
memory of his wife Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Bum- 
side ; and two of her sisters, as we have already seen, were 
married respectively to the brothers Bobert and William 
Taylor, buried a few yards further west. 

When surveying the next tombstone, sacred to the memory 
of William Hood, Mount Pleasance, nursery and seedsman, 
who died 22d August 1827, aged 65, we cannot but think of 
the plants and flowers which he cultivated, some of them, 
at the time we write, still waiting in the fields around to hear 
the voice of Spring "and flourish green again;" while the 
planter of them shall experience no revival 

** Until the eternal morning wake 
The slumbers of the tomb." 

Yet the floral tribes rising anew above the clod typify the 
destiny of man, even as it is said : 

''In all places, then, and in all seasons, 

Flowers expand their light and sotd-like wings ; 
Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons. 
How akin they are to human things. 

And with child-like credulous affection. 

We behold their tender buds expand ; 
Emblems of our own great resurrection, 

Emblems of the bright and better land." 

Mr. Hood had the honour of presiding over a meeting of 
gardeners, at which was founded the Dumfriesshire and 
Galloway Horticultural Society, wh6se jubilee was celebrated 
by an extraordinary demonstration on its fiftieth anniversary, 
5th September 1862. To the Hoods, the Kennedys, and the 
Learmonts the horticulture of the district is much indebted. 
Elizabeth, wife of William Hood, who bore the singular 
maiden name of Feast; their children, James, who died at 
18, Thomas at 36, Maria Yeranna and William Edwin whose 
ages are not specified ; and Maria Skeavington, wife of the 



MEMORIALS OF 6T. MICHAEL's. 161 

latter, are included in the inscription. Another William 
Hood^ of Holybuah^ who carried on the business of the 
family, is commemorated by a handsome monument in one 
of the inner sections ; also, Mary, his wife : he died 25th 
December 1829, aged 30. 

A neat little headstone near by is dedicated to the memory 
of Jane, daughter of Captain MT)owall, of the 7th Dragoon 
Guards, and Isabella Wright, his grandniece, both of whom 
died in childhood. That officer, who lies in the churchyard 
of St. Mary's, began life as a humble member of the King's 
Arms establishment, and having been led to " take the shil- 
ling '' by the Marquis of Queensberry at a time when recruits 
were scarce, he was eventually rewarded by receiving a com- 
mission. On retiring from the army he purchased a house in 
Castle Street, where, however, he did not " lay himself up in 
lavender,'' but proved on the contrary a useful member of our 
community, promoting its charities, and taking an active part 
in its religious and political movements till his death. 

Beference was made in a previous chapter to Mr. John 
M'Murdo, chamberlain at Drumlanrig, as a distinguished 
friend of Bums ; and we have now to notice the monument 
of a brother-in-law of the former and another friend of the 
latter, Colonel de Peyster. The gentleman last named was 
of Erench extraction, if not a native of France ; but he served 
as a British officer in Upper Canada during the most stirring 
period of the American war. When his campaigns abroad 
and hiB peaceful service at home were over, he settled down 
at Mavis Grqve, near Dumfries, his hold upon the locality 
being strengthened by his marrying Miss Rebecca Blair, a 
daughter of Provost Blair, who presided over the Burgh in 
1790-1-2, Mr. M'Murdo having been wedded to another 
daughter. When Bums, towards the close of 1791, came 
from Ellisland to spend his closing years at Dumfries, he 
would probably be introduced to Colonel de Peyster by his 
near relative, the chamberlain. Soon after, at all events, a 
cordial intercourse sprung up between them. The gallant 
officer was frank, warm-hearted, and accomplished, with 

much poetical sensibility, which found expression at times 

K 



162 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

in verse of considerable merit. Personally, he was tall, 
soldier-like, and commanding, even in extreme old age stand- 
ing firm and erect, " like veteran worn but unsubdued." He 
was of great service to the district of his adoption in manj 
respects. By him the 1st Begiment of Dumfries Volunteers, 
of which, we need scarcely say. Bums was a member, was 
effectively trained. Spme time in April 1796, when the 
shadows of coming death were beginning to gather round 
the head of the natiohal bard, he addressed a poetical epistle, 
one of the best he ever penned, to his worthy friend, be- 
ginning 

" My honoured Colonel, deep I feel 
Tour interest in the poet's weiJ ;" 

and in which he moralises on human life as it might be, 
*' would fortune favour worth and merit as they deserve," 
and on his own experience of it, " flickering, feeble, and un- 
siccar, aye wavering like the willow-wicker." Colonel de 
Peyster survived the poet twenty-six years, his lease of life 
stretching out to 96 years. He was buried with military 
honours; and those who are old enough to remember the 
funeral pageant speak of it as having been highly impos- 
ing. The following well-written inscription appears upon 
the monument : — 

** Sacred to the memoin^ of Arent Schuyler de Peyster of Mavii 
Orove, who died on the 26th of November 1822, at a very advanced 
age, of which upwards of sixty years were devoted to the service of 
his King and country. He was no less distinguished by his loyalty 
and honourable principles than by the cordiality of his manners, and 
the warmth and sincerity of his friendships ; and his memory will 
long be cherished and revered by those who enjoyed the happiness of 
his acquaintance. Of the Christian humility of his mind, a fair esti- 
mate may be formed from the following simple lines, written by him 
within a week of his death : 

* Raise no vain structure o*er my grave — 
One simple stone is all I crave ; 
To say beneath a sinner lies, 
Who died in hopes again to rise. 
Through Christ alone, to be forgiven. 
And fitted for the joys of heaven.' ** 

On the plinth of the structure the name of his wife, Bebecca, 
is inscribed. 

The Courier, in its obituary notice of the deceased, gives 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 163 

an anecdote which is worth repeating. His late majesty, 
Greorge IV., was noted for his ability to remember persons 
introduced to him at any time, and of this faculty his early 
intercourse with the deceased afforded a striking illustration. 
'' At one time the Colonel commanded the garrison at Ply- 
mouth, and, while discharging that duty, he had occasion to 
be introduced to the Prince of Wales, then, we presume, a 
very young man. This circumstance his Majesty perfectly 
remembered ; and while conversing with the Marquis of 
Queensberry, during his late visit to Scotland [in 1822], he 
very kindly inquired whether his old friend the Colonel was 
still alive. His lordship replied in the affirmative, and at the 
same time stated that nothing but the advanced age and 
growing infirmities of his spouse had prevented him from 
visiting Holyrood on so interesting an occasion. 'Well,' 
said His Majesty, * I am sorry for it : they were always a 
loving, and now must be a truly venerable, couple, for one of 
the oldest things I remember is having danced Monimusk 
with Mrs. de Peyster." 

To many hundreds of those who sleep below the sods of St. 
Michael's, the man who slumbers with them in the tomb now 
arrived at, was "guide, philosopher, and friend," directing 
their thoughts on all public questions, social and political, 
recording the daily ongoings of the community to which they 
belonged, discussing also for their instruction all objects of 
interest in the big world beyond their limited circle, and 
exercising a great personal as well as professional influence 
by his social accomplishments, his geniality, and his warmth 
of heart. For more than a generation Mr. John M'Diarmid 
of the Courier, whose neat monument suggests these remarks, 
occupied the rank of an intellectual potentate, not only in 
Dumfries, but throughout the three Southern Counties ; and 
he left a mark upon the minds of their population which was 
not effaced when his pen of power fell from the fingers which 
had so long used it as a sceptre ; the impress still enduring, 
together with a feeling of respect for his memory, which 
deepens rather than decreases as the years roll along. Mr. 
M'Diarmid was a native of Comrie, and while holding an 



164 HBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

influential position in the Commercial Bank, Edinburgh, he 
accepted the editorship of the Dimifries and GaUoway Courier 
"when offered to him, as the situation was congenial to his 
.taste, and one which his natural ability, early training, and 
self -culture fitted him to fiU. Under his management the 
•Cowrier soon acquired increased life, and it eventually, as our 
readers know, became one of the most renpwned and success- 
ful of provincial journals, with some special characteristics of 
its own, in which it was long unrivalled, such as rural articles, 
topographical sketches, droll stories, and marvellous para- 
graphs ; the latter so frequent of occurrence that our locality 
came to be looked upon by outsiders as a veritable Wonder- 
land. Though much engrossed by his journalistic duties, he 
rendered good service as a citizen, and published some valu- 
able contributions to general literature. The tombstone bears 
the following inscription : 

"In memoriam John M^Diarmid, author of 'The Scrap Book, 
'Sketches from Nature/ 'life of Oovper/ and other Literary 
Works ; Editor and Proprietor of the Dumfries and ChUoway Courier^ 
which journal he conducted for the period of thirty-five years. He 
died on the 18th November 1852, a^ed 63 years.'* 

The monument bears the name of his amiable wife, Anna 
M'Knight, of their sons Henry Duncan and Hugh James, who 
died in infancy, and of Anna, their eldest daughter, of whom it 
was recorded when she died, 5th December 1869, that she 
possessed many gifts and graces, and '^ all her great natural 
endowments and varied accomplishments were consecrated to 
purposes of religion and charity." 

In the neighbouring plot lie the remains of a worthy 
burgess and Trades' Convener, Thomas Milligan, plumber ; 
of his wife, Alison Wight Anderson; their four sons — 
George cut off in infancy, Thomas died at Kio Janeiro, aged 
27, John Anderson when 33, and Eobert, at New York, 
when 37 ; also a daughter-in-law, Agnes Morison Clingan, 
wife of Alexander Milligan, died at Bosefield, Annan, aged 
35. Mr. Milligan, as we learn from the handsome monument 
erected to his memory, died on the 2d of June 1857, aged 72. 
One of his daughters is Lady Anderson, the wife of our dis- 
tinguished townsma;n, Sir James Anderson, knighted for his 



MEUORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 165 

fiervices in laying the Electric Cable that unites America with 
iEurope. 

A gentleman of eminence and worth, Robert Adamson of 
Drumclyei', writer and banker, receives commemoration on 
the adjoining monument. He died 10th October 1861, aged 
73. As agent for the British Linen Compan/s Bank, trear 
surer to the Crichton Institution, and in his professional 
capacity as a solicitor, he led a busy, active life, and was 
called upon to exercise manifold important duties, which his 
powerful intellect, indomitable industry, and sterling worth 
enabled him to do with fidelity and success. Quoting from 
the Standard's obituary notice, let us add that ''he was re* 
cognised as an able lawyer, as a model man of business, and, 
spite of what strangers might have deemed coldness of 
manner, was courteous, kind-hearted, and benevolent — a 
thorough gentleman, whom to know well was to love and 
esteem.'' On the inscription appear the names of his spouse, 
Ann McMillan ; of their eldest daughter, wife of the Bev. 
Thomas Johnstone of Anwoth ; and of another daughter, 
Marion, who died in infancy. 

On the next monument we read the name of Miles Leigh^ 
ton, merchant, J.P., and thrice Provost of Dumfries, who 
died 27th January 1875, at the venerable age of 90. The 
inscription includes the names of his wife, Elizabeth Bidley, 
and their ofispring, as follows : Jane and John, who died 
in infancy; Mary Elizabeth, at 8 years; Caroline, at 14; 
and Matthew, who emigrated to Boston, United States, where 
he died 26th Jvdy 1854, aged 36. Catherine Bidley, Mrs. 
Leighton's sister, who was 87 when she died, 23d May 1875, 
is buried in the same compartment. 

Mr. Leighton was born at Sedbergh, a village in the North* 
West Biding of Yorkshire, was bred to mercantile pursuits^ 
and at a very early age ''took the road'' as a commercial 
traveller. Before he had seen twenty summers he had 
crossed the Western Border, not for raiding purposes, like 
many of his Yorkshire countrymen in the olden time, but in 
quest of trade. The young " rider," as men of his occupation 
were called at that period, was pleased with the banks of 



166 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Nith^ thought he might do worse than stable his steed in 
Dumfries, and accordingly he began operations for himself 
here fullj sixty years since — thereby planting a small sapling 
which grew up rapidly till it has become a mighty tree in the 
world of trade. It was chiefly as a corkcutter and drysalter 
tiiat he was first known in his new place of abode. He would 
have begun business at once as a general grocer, but the 
^ bit of sheepskin," costing ^13 6s 8d, stood in the way. Mr. 
Leighton had imbibed Free-trade notions before the birth of 
Cobden, and was a Beformer while yet the old dose system 
flourished in Dumfries, according to which no one could open 
shop as a merchant without first purchasing a ticket at the 
rate named above, or by connection or special favour acquir- 
ing the privileges of burgess-ship. Against this exaction 
Mr. Leighton set his face firmly and on principle, and 
though he had to submit to it for a time, he did much to 
bring it into increased disrepute, if not to hurry on its 
abolition. 

At this' period, and before Parliamentary Beform became 
popular, he was looked upon by many of his more timid 
fellow-townsmen as somewhat of a revolutionist : it was 
known that he and other kindred spirits indulged in what 
was deemed the dangerous luxury of a London newspaper 
that had proclivities towards Badicalism; which circum- 
stance, coupled with his crusade against the burgess 
monopoly and his outspoken advocacy of other reforms, 
local and imperial, would probably have made him an 
object of suspicion had he not won his way to general con- 
fidence and favour by his urbanity in other respects, his 
thorough respectability, and his unimpeachable integrity. 
About forty years ago, when Mr. John Bright, as the 
apostle of Free-trade in com, addressed a public meeting in 
Dumfries, Mr. Leighton appeared with him, giving the ad- 
vocate and his cause all the local support he was able to 
command. Soon after the views he held thus early in 
favour of Beform were given effect to by the Legislature, 
he was made a member of the Town Council, to the duties 
of which office he devoted much attention for many years, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 167 

even when his growing business as a merchant made an in- 
creased demand upon his time. He also became a member 
of the Nith Commission, in which capacity he acquired much 
repute, more especially by the successful mode in which he, 
as chairman of the Trust, dealt with a heavy debt that was 
paralysing its energies. With the great sanitary Water 
Scheme he was also honourably associated; and he was 
made chairman of the Benefit and Building Society when 
it was started, in 1859, the honour being annually renewed 
so long as his strength continued, and he gave more than the 
influence of his good name to promote the prosperity of 
that valuable institution. Seven years before the date just 
mentioned, the highest municipal rank was conferred upon 
him ; he who had entered Dumfries as a stranger in 1815 
having risen gradually, yet steadily, till his worth Was at- 
tested and his public services were recognised by being 
called to the civic chair, as Provost Leighton, in 1852. His 
management of the Council while presiding over its dis- 
cussions was characterised by great tact, business talent, and 
fairness. He was a justice of the peace as well as a Burgh 
magistrate; and when sitting on the Bench usually took 
a broad, commou-sense view of the cases before him, and 
allowed the " twice-blessed " quality of mercy to receive full 
scope in his decisions. In 1856, when the Burgh lost its 
chief magistrate by the death of Provost M'Gowan, Mr. 
Leighton was appointed his successor ; and so popular was 
he with the Council and the whole community that in 1857 
he was a third time elevated to the provostship. 

Provost Leighton was a devoted Episcopalian of the Evan- 
gelical school, and at the time of his death was, we believe, 
the last of the original trustees connected with the congrega- 
tion that is ministered to by the Eev. Mr M'Ewen, M.A., in 
the Church of St. John the Evangelist. After what has been 
already stated we need scarcely add that the Provost was a 
decided Liberal in politics, but he was neither a bitter 
partizan nor a bigoted sectarian; a keen opponent of the 
Conservatives they yet covdd not help admiring him for his 
candour, nianliness, and love of fair play. With the poorer 



16d MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

dasses lie was a great fayouiite. Sufficiently dignified for Bis 
position, he was yet void of all hauteur ; the word caste had 
no place in his vocabulaiy ; and humble folks knew and felt 
that in him they had a friend who had sympathy for them, and 
was ever ready to serve them by word or deed. As the head 
of an extensive mercantile firm, he was noted for his enter- 
prise, breadth of view, and probity, qualities which contri- 
buted greatly to his business success. Eminently social, 
Mr. Leighton was at the same time moderate in his desires 
and temperate in his habits. He habitually wore a pleasant 
expression ; and while yet amongst us we have often felt that 
to him the well known lines were particularly applicable : 

" Though to his share some trivial errors fall, 
Look in his face, and yon forget them alL" 

A deep feeling of regret was experienced by aJI dasses of our 

community when the end came, and his pleasant countenance 

was changed and his hoary head laid low. 

Of the terrible Indian Mutiny we are reminded by an 
inscription on the next, monument, in memory of Captain 
William Dalzell, of the 93d Highlanders. That gallant young 
officer took part in the assault upon the outpost of Secunda- 
bagh, when Sir Colin Campbell was fighting his way to the 
relief of Lucknow in November 1857. The place was^ des- 
perately defended, but it was carried by escalade on the 
ICth, after a fierce struggle, which cost the assailants some 
predouB lives — ^Captain Dalzell, among others, falling mortally 
wounded, and dying soon afterwards, at the age of 27. The 
monument is in memory also of his father. Captain William 
Denholm Dalzell, of the Madras Army, died dd September 
1837, aged 42 ; and of Jane Hughan, wife of James Dalzell, 
died iOth December 1842, aged 78. 

To the memory of John Berwick of Albany Bank, long the 
energetic, successful, and respected head of a lazge drapery 
establishment in Dumfries, the next tombstone is dedicated, 
fie died 27th July 1845, aged 55. It rises in memory also of 
Margaret M^onnies his wife ; their children, WOliam, 
who d!red at 24 ; Margaret at 44 ; Bobina at 42 ; t&ree who 
died in infancy; Janet Halliday, relict Of James Berwick, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 169 

farmer^ Ardwell, died 8tli March 1822^ aged 62; and an 
infant child of Thomas and Jane Lonsdale. 

There was no house in Dumfries in which Burns waa a 
more familiar and welcome guest than the one at Nith Place, 
occupied by Mr. Gabriel Richardson, whose " narrow house " 
in St. Michael's we have now reached. He carried on a 
large business as a brewer, and at the time when he used to 
be visited by his distinguished guest, he was a leading coun- 
cillor of the Burgh, though it was not till some years after- 
wards that he became provost. Prom 1791 to 1796 the poet 
frequently spent a few hours on Sabbath evenings at Mr. 
Bichardson's fireside, besides looking in on week days occa- 
BionaJly. Among his axfanirers in the family there wa« none 
more ardent than the eldest child, John, though only nine 
years of age at the last-mentioned date. "We need scarcely 
say that the boy on whom the irresistible glamour of the 
bard was thrown at such a susceptible period grew up to be 
a great traveller and naturalist. On one occasion, as we learn 
from the biography of Sir John Richardson, Bums pointed 
out some of the Paraphrases which he most admired, and 
.urged his young disciple to get them oflF by heart— one of 
them being the beautiful one, beginning 

" How bright these glorious spirits shine, 
Whence all their white array?" 

At eight years of age the future traveller entered the 

grammar school, on the same day with the poet's eldest son. 

" John never forgot Burns's bright smile and flashing eye 

when he said to his father, * I wonder which of them will be 

the greatest man.' The boys were passionately fond ctf ballad 

poetiy, young Bums excelling in narrative and recitation. 

Spenser's 'Fairy Queen,' borrowed from the poet, was a 

specif favourite of John Richardson, and the notice taken of 

him by Bums made a permanent impression on his milid."* 

On another occasion, when the conversation at the family 

circle turned upon the transitory nature of all mundane 

tilings. Bums, taking from his waistcoat pocket the diamond 

pen which he usually carried about with him, said he would 

* M'llwraith'g Life of Sir John lUchardsonj p. 3. 



170 MBMORIAUB OF ST. HICHABL%. 

fumisli bef arehand a fitting epitaph for his host He then, 
on one of the tumblers with which the festive board was fur- 
nished, inscribed the following lines : — 

"Here brewer Gabriers fire's extinct. 
And emptr all Yob barrels ; 
He's blest, if as he brewed he drink — 
In npiij^t Tirtaous morals.** 

The vessel thus inscribed was presented bj Mrs. Bichaidson 
to her son, Sir John, during one of his visits to Dumfries, 
after he had won laurels as an explorer of the Arctic regions, 
and it remains a cherished heirloom at Lancrigg, Westmore- 
land, the seat of his widow, daughter of the beautiful and 
accomplished Mrs. Fletcher, whose " Autobiography," edited 
by Lady Richardson, is one of the finest works of the kind 
in the language. Mr. Bichardson became Provost of Dum- 
fries in 1801. As such he acquitted himself admirably, and 
was popular alike with rich and poor. His epitaph is in 
the following terms : 

"Sacred to the memory of Gabriel Bichardson, a native of the 
parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, who, bom in humble circumstances on 
the lands of Kellobank, once the property of his ancestors, was early 
inured to toil ; but discharging with great indus^ and the utmost 
probity the duties of various situations in life, he gradually, by the 
blessing of God on his honest endeavours, acquired the means, and 
liberally exercised the power, of assisting others. His rise was ac- 
companied by the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, who 
called him to fill in succession the offices of Councillor, Bailie, and 
Provost of Dumfries. For many years of his life he was an active 
Justice of the Peace for the County. He died on 26th January, A.D. 
1820, aet. 61." 

The next monument is in memory of Bobert Bevan, died 
14th March 1843, aged 73, and of Isabella Monies, his spouse. 

This upper dass section of the Burial-ground has as a 
fitting terminus a stately monument raised over the com- 
partment where lie William Gordon, writer, much esteemed 
as a citiasen and professional gentieman, who died 16th 
August 1829, aged 63 ; Mary Mitchelson Crosbie, his 
spouse ; also a daughter, Margaret, who died at 50 ; his 
daughter-in-law, Mary Brocklebank, spouse of ex-Provost 
James Gordon ; two sons of the latter, who died in infancy, 
and a daughter, Bessie, who died at the age of 12. 



OHAJPTBR xrv- 

INNBE SBCTIOKS — NUMBER ONE. 

^fp^ABALLEL with the foregoing walk^ in a northerly 
JX:^ direction^ there stretches a spacious oblong section, 
*^-^ abounding with headstones pointing out the family 
plots of numerous tradesmen and others, such as the follow- 
ing : Nicholas Lindsay, weaver, died 4th July 1818, aged 
38, with Charlotte Edgar, his spouse, and their young 
daughter Nicholas ; Thomas Easton, hosier, died 9th October 
1832, aged 40, with his wife, Christina Johnston, and Ann, 
their daughter ; Samuel Dale, who plied the shuttle in the 
same way till he was 72, experiencing doubtless that ^'the 
web of life is of a mingled yam,'' and, dying 11th December 
1874, three days after his aged partner, Grace Maxwell, 
breathed her last, they were buried together on the same 
day, beside seven of their youthful children ; also another 
stocking-maker, Joseph Haining, died April 1840 (age not 
stated), with Margaret Nicholson, his spouse, James Nichol- 
son, her brother, died at Miramichi, 4th September 1848, 
aged 66, Margaret Bichardson, wife of the latter, and five 
of their children, none of whom outlived infancy except 
William, who died at 10, and Jane, who died 13th January 
1874 (age not mentioned) : within the enclosure appears a 
white marble cross, very tastefully executed, bearing on its 
plinth the name ''Jane," and on an encircling band the 
words "Come, Lord Jesu." 

Of old respected Squaremen we find several representa- 
tives : John Bell, joiner, died 22d June 1847, aged 71, with 
his wife, Margaret Wright, their child-daughter Janet, and 
his second wife, Janet Geddes ; John Walker, upholsterer, 
died 23d April 1836, aged 67, with his spouse, Mary Grant, 
and their two infant children; William B. Denniston, 
cabinetmaker, died 31st July 1864, aged 71, with Jane Hope, 
his spouse ; Bobert Edgar, cabinetmaker, died 13th May 
1876, aged 79, with Mary M'Knight, his spouse, and 



172 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

four of their youthful children, the oldest, Helen, having 
been 14 : he waa sprung from a family that have been re- 
sident in Carlaverock for many centuries, was a warm- 
hearted, obliging man, and long famous as a local vocalist. 
Two headstones further west commemorate some members 
of a related family : Charles Edgar died 1st September 1843, 
aged 69, William, died at Melbourne, aged 45, and three 
other children, cut off when young ; John Edgar, son of 
Charles, died at Friars' Creek, Australia, in 1860, aged 42, 
and Margaret Edgar, died in 1866, aged 58. On another 
stone infancy, youth, and age are shewn in three generations 
of one family, that of John Wallace, mason, whose father, 
William, died 5th February 1861, at fourscore, whose wife, 
Jean Irving, died 12th Discember 1848, at 37, and four of their 
offspring, the oldest of whom, William, died at 12. In the 
slating business of the Burgh none occupied a higher place 
than Newall Irving for many years, though, as we learn from 
his tombstone, he died at the early age of 38, on 7th June 1839. 
His father, Thomas Irving, also a slater, died 13th June 1832^ 
aged 80 ; his mother, Jean Grieve ; their daughter Agnes, 
who died at 25, and five infants of the family, are com* 
memorated by a neighbouring tombstone ; also Thomas, son 
of Newall, who died in childhood. 

Several Hammermen, struck down by Death's resistless 
hand, lie also here : David Dickson, whitesmith, died 25th 
May 1833, aged 46, with Elizabeth Lawrence, his spouse, 
and two infant children ; also Mary Dickson, wife of Charles 
Lauder, veterinary surgeon, died 1st March 1861, aged 54, 
with two infant children ; John Wilson, designated as a 
coppersmith, and who among other extensive operations laid 
the pipes which supply gas to the Burgh, died 30th Sep* 
tember 1832, aged 57, with Janet Staig, his spouse, £ve of 
their ofifspring who di^d in infancy, and his second wife, 
Mary McLean ; John M'Naim, nailmaker, died 28th June 
1866, aged 56. 

The brass-founding business of the Burgh was for about 
fifty years in the hands of Thomas Aitiken and his son 
William, both of them very ingenious mechanics ; and the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIOHASL'S. 173 

son of the latter also named William, inheriting the family 
talent, rose to high distinction as a designer in metals and as 
an art critic at Birmingham, where he died 24th March 1875. 
Thomas Aitken, as we learn from the memorial-stone, died 
3d January 1821, aged 65 : his wife, Margaret Kerr ; their 
son William, died 2d June 1847, aged 59; and Maryanne, 
their daughter (age not stated), are also mentioned in the 
inscription. 

William Aitken (secundus) is well remembered in Dum- 
fries by many, chiefly as associated with the Mechanics' In- 
stitute, and with the Fine Arts Exhibition held under its 
auspices in 1841, the success of which was greatly due to his 
enterprise, labour, and skill. The Birmingham Morning 
HewBy in its obituary notice of Mr. Aitken, says : — " Allied 
with his enthusiasm, and innate knowledge of the beautiful, 
he possessed a practical acquaintance with some of the most 
important of Birmingham trades. For many years manager 
or head of one of the departments of Messrs Win^eld's ex- 
tensive works, he was enabled from this position, and its 
facilities, to acquire what so many of our theorists want, viz., 
practical knowledge. And this is evinced in his article en- 
titled '' Brass, and brass manufactures,'' perhaps the most im- 
portant paper in Mr. Sam Timmins' " Industrial History of 
Birmingham." He formed a link between our manufacturei's 
on the one side and the art world on the other, and the 
dream of his life was to see the treasures of South Kensington, 
and the riches there, disgorged and distributed throughout 
the provinces. Every movement of an intelligent character 
for the last thirty years started in Birmingham he was 
identified with. Indefatigable, and willing always to under 
take what he was so peculiarly adapted for, it was not sur- 
prising that the purely commercial institution, the Chamber 
of Commerce, should invite him to accompany the artizan 
reporters to the Paris Exhibition in 1867, and afterwards to 
edit the volume of reports, which was the outcome of that 
visit. Subsequently, he undertook a similar task in a 
journey to Vienna in 1873, and a second volume of reports 
was edited by him, and published last year. This valuable 



174 MEMOBIAI^S OF ST. MIGHASL's. 

practical knowledge is shewn in his other papers in Mr. 
Timmins' book, on ^Cast and Electro Deposit Statuary in 
Bronze and Copper," and another ''On the Bevived Art of 
Metal-working in Brass and Iron on Mediieyal Principles," 
and a fourth on " Coffin Furniture," four of the most valu- 
able and interesting contributions in the volume, and which 
are alone a record of his industry and researdi. His devotion 
to the School of Design may be said to have been its sheet 
anchor ; whilst others, from overwhelming duties or in- 
difference, neglected it, he quietly and regularly attended, 
and all that a single man could do for it he did. Upon 
every opportunity, in season and out of season, he ad- 
vocated its claims on the manufacturers of Birmingham, 
who too often turned a deaf ear ; whilst he did not foiget to 
press and importune Mr. Cole, C.B., of South Kensington, 
for examples of the art treasures stowed away there, and 
therefore useless, though bought with the nation's money, 
and, metropolitan-Hke, selfishly refused to the less favoured 
provinces. The public opinion that is growing upon this 
subject may be said to be of his creation. Naturally liberal 
and kind-hearted, a man of great refinement of taste, an 
honest and able critic, his death at the early age of 58 will 
be felt as a great loss for a long time to come." Mr Aitken 
was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Bobert Wright, baker, 
Dumfries. 

Of late years Dumfries has been taking a very leading 
part in the manufacture of confectionery goods ; one firm, 
that of James M'Gregor & Son, rivalling the great establish- 
ments of Edinburgh and Glasgow, whether as regards quality 
of goods or range of trade. Their hon bans, as the French 
term them, are '' familiar in the mouths " of gentle folks and 
simple, and have even secured the patronage of royalty, as is 
shown by the Queen's arms which decorates the door piece of 
their premises in High Street. The founder of this flourish- 
ing business, Hugh McGregor, a pious as well as industrious 
man, is commemorated by a headstone in this section ; as also 
his worthy helpmate Agnes Johnston, who survived him ten 
years. He died 2d June 1853, aged 72. 



MBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 175 

Among the sports of Dumfries in old times the Carters' 

Baces occupied no mean place. On the 15th of April 1662^ 

the Town Council ordered their Treasurer to provide a silver 

bell four ounces in weight to be run for every second Tuesday 

in May by the work-horses of the Burgh, " according to the 

aunciente custome."* About the last competition of this 

kind took place in 1845. The same useful class of men have 

since made an imposing display at several public processions, 

especially the one which signalised the Bums Centenary, 

when each wearing the characteristic broad blue bonnet, and 

bestriding 

*' A filly buirdly, steeve, and swank, 
Which set weel down a shapely shank, 

As eer tread yird, 
An conld hae flown out ower a stank, 
like onie bird," 

they paraded with the foot-marchers through the principal 
streets of the Burgh. Most of the carters used to be domiciled 
in the Kirkgate which passes by the place where — unhorsed 
and prostrate, their own race run — ^many of them lie, the 
section under notice containing at least three : William Glen- 
cross, died Ist February 1822, aged 46 ; George Crosbie, died 
1st January 1866 ; and John M'Conochie, died 17th June 
1850, aged 82, with Mary MXean, his spouse. On the head- 
stone that commemorates the last-named pair appear also the 
names of James M'Conochie, who died at Lochmaben 12th 
December 1874, aged 79 ; his wife Margaret Dalgleish, and 
other relatives. 

George Barron, sawyer, died 11th June 1849, aged 74, with 
his spouse, Georgina Campbell, and daughter Ann, died at 64 ; 
James Stewart, tailor, died 24th June 1823, aged 54, with 
Jane Cowan, his spouse, John, their infant, James, another 
son, who died at 28, a daughter Helen, with her husband 
John James, who died in October 1836 ; Isabella Barry, 
wife of William Stewart, died 8th January 1848, aged 39, 
with six of their children, including George, who died at 9, 
and James at 16 ; Bichard M'Dougall, tailor, died 4th October 
1832, aged 51, with Marion Bichardson, his wife, six of their 

* History of Dumfries^ second edition, p 308. 



176 SfiKMORIALS 07 8T. MICHAEL'S^ 

youthful ohildren ; two infant children of George M'Dougally 
who followed the same trade ; Janet M'Growan, spouse of 
James Parker^ tailor, died 20th May 1831, aged 56 ; George 
Currie, saddler, died 18th December 1866, aged 20; 
Margaret, died at 17, and Elizabeth at 18, daughters of 
Samuel Spence, shoemaker; John Weir, printer, died 
April 14th, 1826, aged 20 ; Joseph Wharton, hostler, died 
29th September 1841, aged 64, with his infant son; 
Joseph Langhome, horsebreak^r, died 2d October 1832^ 
aged 63, with Elizabeth Scott, his wife, and their chUdren 
Joseph, died at 11, Ellen at 25, John at 39, with the spouse 
of the latter Margaret Wilson, and a son, who died in child- 
hood ; Margaret Clark, spouse of William Hannaj, died at 
Newton-Stewart, 12th May 1848, aged 42, with three 
of their infant offspring ; Agnes Cowan, died 4th Decem- 
ber 1849, aged 84; Harriet Newton, spouse of Thomas 
Woodhouse, mail-guard, died 19th January 1842, aged 
27, with an infant daughter ; five young children of 
Andrew Hunter ; a young child of Beuben Fildes, hatter ; 
two children of George Gowanlock in Mossband ; John 
Maxwell Charteris, a maker of fishing-rods, died 18th 
September 1849 (age not stated), with Agnes Aitchison, his 
wife, and their three children, William Sturgeon, flesher, 
died 14th October 1846, aged 70, with Mary Irving, his 
spouse; also his sister Mary, and her husband James 
Dickson, baker, died 15th January 1850, aged 44 ; Bobert 
Hannah, plasterer, died 1st June 1834, aged 67, with Janet 
Mitchel, his spouse ; William Crosbie, cellarman, 'died at 
Wallgreen, 3l8t December 1856, aged 74, with Janet John- 
ston, his spouse ; and Peter King, bairdresser, died 18th 
October 1852, aged 60, with Jane Coupland, his wife, and 
their two sons, John who died at 25, and George at 30 : ail 
these lie in this section — the headstone over the last-named 
family shewing that they were Eoman Catholics by the words 
engraved upon it, " Bequiescat in pace." 

Here also lie interred dealers in wares of divers kinds, the 
first we notice being Bobert Paterson, draper, who died 6th 
January 1837, aged 48, with Agnes Bodick, his wife, a son 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 177 

John who died at sea^ aged 19, a daughter Elizabeth^ who 
died when a year older, a second son Charles, a writer, who 
was possessed of superior attainments, and died 2d May 1849, 
at the early age of 29, and a third son, Bobert, also 
a writer, who died 3d January 1859, age not mentioned. 
The chief grocery concern in St Michael's Street was 
long conducted by Joseph Parkins at the Pent-house 
End, where he died 19th August 1861, at the age of 
77 ; he being pent up here in the narrow house with 
Isabella Scott^ his spouse^ the tombstone telling of another 
distant grave occupied by his son Eobert Scott, who died in 
Whampoa, China, at the age of 30. Further west lies one 
who neighboured Mr. Parkins for several years in the same 
line, James M'Eobert, long a devoted office-bearer of the 
Congregational Church, died 21st May 1845, aged 48, with 
his wife Eleanor Lindsay, and Agnes, their infant daughter : 
*'In life he loved Christ's cause, now he sleeps in Jesus." 
John Jamieson, a dealer in the Chinese herb, whose praise 
has been sung by Cowper, and of which Waller says, 

« 

" The Muse's friend, tea does our fancy aid 
Bepress those vapours which the head invade," 

is commemorated also by an adjoining stone, from which we 
learn that he died 27th January 1850, aged 68 : his wife, Jane 
Scott, a son and two granddaughters, who died in infancy, 
and their daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Forrest, wife of the 
late John Jamieson, draper, and afterwards agent of the 
Scottish Colportage Society, are also named in the inscription. 
George Hume, a dealer in tea services and crockery ware of 
all kinds, lies " turned to clay," beside a stone erected by his 
wife soon after his death from cholera 2d October 1832, she 
surviving, him till 1848 ; her own name and that of an 
adopted daughter, Mary Ann Wilson who died at 20, appear- 
ing in the inscription. Two traffickers in a more potent 
liquor than " the cup which cheers but not inebriates," are 
buried near by, one of them, Thomas "WeUs, innkeeper, died 
27th October 1843, aged 64, with Janet Brown, his spouse, 
and Isabella, her sister, died at 61 ; the other, John Benson^ 
an Englishman, whose hostlery, the Golden Bull, was long a 

L 



178 MEUOBIALS OF ST. UICHAEL's. 

favourite place of entertamment : he died 27th June 1827, 
aged 48 ; his wife, Isabella Kendal, their son John, lost in 
the Nith 30th December 1822, at the age of 11, and their 
other son James, who experienced a similar fate at the age of 
16, by the wreck of the barque Swallow when on a voyage to 
Valparaiso, are also named in the inscription — ^the latter sad 
catastrophe causing, we are told, *' much anguish and sorrow 
to his afflicted relatives." 

Captain William Edgar, a skilful mariner who died on 
terra firma, finds a haven in this section of the Cemetery, 
life's voyage terminating 27th February 1874, when he had 
passed his 78th year, his wife, Jean Moffat, and six infant chil- 
dren resting by his side ; John Gaffie, seaman, died 13th March 
1824, aged 47, with his spouse Jean and sister Margaret, and 
a relative, Bichard BeU, carter, died 9th March 1866, aged 
47 ; also another mariner, William Coupland, died 25th 
October 1870, aged 66 ; and yet another, James Black, died 
5th March 1842, aged 35. A second James Black is named 
on a dtone lying further westward : he was a sergeant in the 
Boyal Artillery, died 30th May 1837, when threescore, his 
brother Thomas, who belonged to the same branch of the 
service, being also mentioned in the inscription, as having 
died 14th May 1834, aged 47. 

Sundry cultivators of the soil lie here mouldering within 
its breast : Bobert Clark, Calside, died 8th November 1816, 
aged 67 ; Bobert Wright, Gateside of Gastown, died 18th 
April 1855, aged 74, with Janet Cowan his spouse, and their 
sons, David, grain-dealer, died 9th December 1868, aged 60, 
and John, died in the same month, two years older ; James 
Bobertson, who tilled the lands of Byersteads, and died at 
Georgetown, 26th April 1823, aged 73, James, his grandchild, 
son of George Bobertson, and John Moffat, painter, son-in-law 
of Mr. Bobertson, died 22d November 1860; John Fergusson, 
Doctorswell, died 4th February 1820, aged 75, with Christina 
Niven his wife, and two grandchildren ; John Cunningham, 
gardener, died 11th January 1827, aged 66, with Agnes 
Hawthorne, his spouse ; James Bowman, also a gardener, died 
13th February 1828, aged 77, with Jean Boyse, his spouse. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MlCHAEL^S. 179 

Proceeding from west to east we next notice the altar- 
stones in the section ; the first of them appearing within a 
railed compartment in memory of the Bev. James Kirk- 
patricky died 6th March 1822^ aged 76^ and his spouse 
Eleanor, "formerly of Whitehaven." Others commemorate 
Ann M'Caa, wife of Edward Hyslop, printer, died 25th 
May 1814, aged 27, with their children, Anna died at 14, 
and Thomas in infancy ; Edward M'Kenzie, farmer, Eock- 
haUhead, died 30th September 1814, aged 64, with Marion 
Crichton his spouse ; Robert Beid, writer, bom at Glasgow, 
died 9th January 1820, aged 33 ; Charles Bobb, cabinet- 
maker, died 9th January 1845, aged 53, with his offspring, 
Margaret, who died at 28, and four others in childhood ; 
Mary Howson, wife of our oldest working cabinet-maker, 
Robert M'Innes, she died 10th January 1875, aged 73, 
also two of their daughters — ^Mary, a child of 5 years, 
and Ann, wife of David Graham, merchant, her death 
occurring 10th October 1861, at the age of 40 ; John 
Moodie, gardener, Maxwelltown, died 16th June, aged 
75, with his wife Ann Paget, their daughter-in-law Jane 
Muir, spouse of James Moodie, clogmaker, who died at 36, 
ajid an infant son of the latter ; Benjamin Rae, joiner, died 
1st April 1789, aged 49, with Margaret Forsyth his spouse, 
and their sons, John, a joiner, who died at 48, David at 42, 
and Charles at 41 ; James Moffat, mason, diecl 28th October 
1824, aged 62, with Isabella Malcolm his spouse ; a very 
young married woman, Jean Harrison, spouse of Alexander 
Crawford, with their two infant children, her death occurring 
20th May. 181 8, when she was just 18; Peter Findlater, 
saddler, died 8th February 1826, aged 54, with his 
spouse Sarah Lancaster (who belonged to a family long 
connected with the same trade in Dumfries), their son John^ 
who died at 15, their daughter Margaret at 23, the latter 
having been also the wife of a saddler, Roger Murray ; 
James Irving, coach-driver, died 8th January 1831, aged 86, 
with Janet M'Vittie his spouse, and their children, James, 
who died in Portugal at 31, David at 20, and three cut off in 
infancy. 



180 MEU0RIAL8 OF ST. UICHAEL*S. 

A merchant of good repute, James Hogg, draper, is buried 
in this section, his death taking place on 14th January 1833, 
"when he was 65 : the names of his wife, Annie Stewart, and 
four of their children are inscribed on the stone : "William an 
infant, Elizabeth died at 7, Margaret at 28, and John in New 
York at 33 ; also, the name of a grandchild, Elizabeth, 
daughter of William S. Hogg, who carries on his father's 
business. David Crosbie, grocer, another merchant of the 
same high stamp, lies not far off, his death occurring 14th 
February 1845, when he was 59 ; his wife Mary Nixon, their 
offspring, Eobert died at 22, William at 29, and Elizabeth, 
wife of Hugh H. Gibson, died in Liverpool at 30, with other 
three younger children are named on the monument ; also, 
Elizabeth Bowman, Mrs. Crosbie's mother, who died at 60. 

The memory of a worthy bookseller, John Johnston, is re- 
called by a stone beariDg the name of his wife, Mary Fead, 
died 4th May 1816, aged 32. On another we observe the 
name of John, eldest son of John Anderson, bookseller, " a 
youth of great promise,'* who died in the 17th year of his age ; 
also, the name of his sister, Elizabeth, who died at 10. John 
Anderson, bookseller, had such a close connection with St. 
Mary's as one of its chief originators and supporters that 
by the desire of his minister and brother managers he was 
buried in the cemetery of that church, the spot being 
indicated by a handsome edifice, bearing the subjoined 
inscription : 

" In memory of John Anderson, stationer, Dumfries, who died 
l6th November, 1858, aged sixty-six years. This monument is 
erected by the congregation of St Mary's Church and other friends, 
as a tribute of respect for his zeal and energj in behalf of the Church 
of Scotland, and his special services in the eldership and management 
of St Mary's." 

Mr. Anderson was a man of great intelligence, business 
enterprise, and private worth. His circulating library, in the 
romances of which w6 used to revel when a boy, was the great- 
est of its day in the district. Besides the children above named 
bom to him by his wife, Agnes Eichardson, a venerable lady 
who stiU survives, there are living, two daughters and four 
sons — ^Wellwood, who carries on his father's business ; William, 



MEUORIALS OF ST. HICHASL's. 181 

bookseller at Newton-Stewart ; Bobert, the well-known Glaa* 
gow printer ; and James, knighted by her Majesty for the 
share taken by him as Captain of the Great Eastern in laying 
the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, 1866. David, another son, 
led an adventurous military life abroad, and died in Calcutta 
at middle age. 

CcHning to other altar-stones in this section, we read on 
one ci ihem of two brothers, William and Andrew Mont- 
gomery by name, who carried on an extensive business aa 
bakers, and seem to have been brothers indeed, the inscrip- 
tion telHng us that 

" As a benefactor and friend, he [Andrew] was tender, affectionate, 
and honourable in all his transactions through life. These two 
brothers were remarkable for their attachment to each other. Thev 
were true to friendship, and their whole conduct was marked with 
strict integrity, and they Uved respected and died regretted." 

William died 20th December 1819, aged 40 ; Andrew follow* 
ing him to the land unseen 6th January, nine years afterwards, 
aged 45. On the same monument and a neighbouring head- 
stone are named the wife of the latter, Mary Murphy, and 
their children — Agnes, an infant ; Andrew, who died at 8 ; 
George, at 28 ; and Mary, at 40. 

Another notable bread manufacturer lies not far off, James 
Corson, who was also chief magistrate in 1831-2-3. It was 
during his burghal reign that the first dreadful cholera visita- 
tion was experienced in Dumfries, which taxed so much tho 
energies of our public men ; and Provost Corson, we believe, 
proved himself to be competent for the crisis. He died 28th 
September 1836, at the early age of 44. The table tombstone 
raised above his remains commemorates also his youthful 
children, with reference to whom the following verse is 

inscribed ; 

" The prize is gained, the conflict's o*er, 
To sin unknown, from sorrow free ; 
Let not affection's tears deplore 
The child of immortality." 

A respected octogenarian, John Milligan, at one time farmer 
in Dunnance, parish of Balmaghie, lies within a railed com" 
partment, together with Elizabeth Chalmers, his spouse, and 
several of their relatives. He died 31st August 1819, aged 79. 



182 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

One of his sons, Bobert, who died in 1861, was Mayor of 

Bradford and Member of Parliament for that town ; another, 

William, long a prosperous manufacturer in Dumfries, is 

spending his closing years, respected by ev^ry one, at his seat 

of Westpark, Maxwelltown : among the names upon the 

tombstone are those of three children of the latter, John, an 

infant; Jessie, died at 18; Elizabeth, at 19, by his wife, 

Jean, sister of John Berwick, draper, the inscription closing 

thus : 

" Also the above Jean Berwick MiUigan, who died in the hope of 
the Gospel on Sept. 20 1865, in the 73d year of her age. She was an 
affectionate and devoted mother to her family." 

Facing the footpath on the west rises a graceful upright 
slab, bearing upon it the name of Alexander Young of Bose- 
field, long Procurator-Fiscal for Dumfriesshire — a shrewd, 
sagacious lawyer of the old school, who discharged his onerous 
official duties with mingled zeal and moderation. In examin- 
ing witnesses he was wont to display much pawkie humour 
and penetration, the racy Scotch dialect in which his questions 
were usually put rendering them all the more incisive. He 
was father of Lord Young, long one of the ablest members of 
the Bar, and greatly distinguished as a statesman when repre^ 
senting the Wigtown Burghs, and when officiating as Lord 
Advocate : much of the keen insight, ready wit, and sagacity 
for which the father was remarkable in a more limited sphere, 
seems to have been inherited by his accomplished son. Mr. 
Young died 26th June 1863, aged 72. Seven of his children 
lie interred beside him, all of whom died very young, except 
Lilias, who lived to be 22. 

In a line with the foregoing stand three neat, plain monu- 
ments, commemorating members of families closely related to 
each other : John Bain, cabinetmaker, died 4th December 
1875, with his wife, Jane Shanks. In the newspaper notice 
of his death it is stated *' that Mr. Bain was one of the 
oldest craftsmen of Dumfries who was trained in the strict 
days of trade guilds, and who for nearly fifty years, in the 
service, first of Messrs Gregan & Creighton, and latterly in 
that of Mr. William Gregan, retained the confidence of his 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 183 

employers^ and the respect of his fellow-workmen. He had 
reached the patriarchal age of 84 ; and up till a few days a^o 
he was able to take his position at the bench and execute 
cabinet-work which younger men might have been proud of.** 
Walter Shanks^ shoemaker, died 23d April 1843 (age not 
stated), with Agnes Cunningham, his wife, and John, their 
son ; Bobert Shanks, a house-painter of more than ordinary 
taste and skill, died 16th December 1869, aged 67, with his 
offspring, Agnes, died at 26 ; Janet, at 17 ; and John in 
childhood ; Elizabeth Shanks, wife of James M'Lellan, shoe- 
maker (one of the few old freemen of that trade that are still 
to the fore), died 20th November 1843, aged 46, with seven 
of their offspring, including Thomas, unfortunately killed in 
a moment by " the rush of a brow " at the age of 9, and 
James, who also died " instantaneoilsly " while travelling 
from Lockerbie to Dumfries : the name of James M'Lellan*s 
second wife, Isabella Kuowles, also appears in the inscrip- 
tion, she died 11th April 1864, aged 68. 

Andrew Anderson, a much respected draper of the Burgh, 
is borne in remembrance by a stately monument : he died 
30th December 1865, aged 72 ; the inscription includes Mary 
M'Intyre, his wife, their children, James and Jane, both of 
"whom died at 25 ; on the plinth are named Marion M'Intyre, 
died 10th December 1839, aged 46, and Sarah Bae, a woman 
of superior attainments and extensive information, who died 
21st July 1844, aged 70. 

Thomas Watson, bred a cabinetmaker, for some time an 
ironmonger, and a man of great intelligence, is named on 
a neat monument. He spent many years abroad, and on re- 
turning retired to Lochmaben, where he died 12th January 
1872, aged 72 ; his wife, Mary Ann Elton ; her mother, 
Margaret Thomson, and two of their young children are also 
specified in the inscription. 

A stately monument erected by Hugh Bryden, merchant, 
Liverpool, " in pious remembrance of his parents " — William 
Bryden, hay dealer, died 14th December 1856, aged 82, and 
Ann Stitt, his wife — commemorates himself also, and his 
brother James, surgeon, both dying at the age of 34 : one 



18^ MEMORIALS 07 ST. MICHABL's. 

of their STirviving brothers is the Eev. Mark J. Bryden, parish 
minister of Kirkcaldy. 

James Beck^ one of the carter class already noticed, died 
12th May 1822, aged 52 ; his spouse, Sophia Bell ; and their 
children are commemorated on a neat monument, as follows : 
Thomas, who died when 14 ; William, at Quebec, when 29 ; 
Katherine, wife of William M'Kill, farmer in Knocksting, 
at 21 ; and John, who carried on an extensive business as a 
slater, died 30th November 1857, at 42. 

A worthy octogenarian, Edward Bozburgh, is named on a 
handsome neighbouring monument He wrought for many 
years as a master mason on the English side of the Border, 
and on returning to his native town, Dumfries, he continued 
the building trade on an extensive scale. He also com- 
menced business as a bacon-corer, in what has since been 
called the Bacon-ham Close, prosecuting it with such success 
as to gain for his hams a great demand and a widely-spread 
reputation. He died 11th October 1846, aged 81. Jean 
Waistell, his wife, is also named in the inscription ; together 
with his son-in-law, William M'Quhae, mason (father of the 
respected Session-clerk of St. Michael's), died 24th November 
1860, aged 69. An adjoining headstone rises in memory of 
John, infant son of James Bichardson (whose father was John 
Bichardson, the well-known sheriff-officer) and Catherine 
Boxburgh. 

A stately edifice commemorates James Brand, merchant, 
died 4th June 1840, aged 59 ; Jean McQueen, his wife ; and 
their offspring — ^Bobert, died in childhood, James, aged 10 
years, Elizabeth when 18, John, a merchant, at Demerara, 
when 29, and Henry at Berbice, when 35. Another son, 
James, who survives, occupies a leading position among the 
American Scotsmen of New York : he has been for several 
years Vice-President of the St. Andrew's Society in that city. 

In a neatly-kept plot lie John Dunn, timber-merchant, 
highly respected in all the relations of life, who died 8th 
December 1827, aged 46 ; also his wife Agnes Thomson, 
three of their youthful progeny, and their daughter, Helen. 
Thomson Dunn, wife of our worthy townsman, Mr. Bobert 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL*S. 185 

Armstrong, wine-merchant ; a handsome monument rising 
in the compartment to commemorate Mrs. Armstrong, died 
13th Joly 1868, aged 51, and their son Christopher, aged 27. 

William Halliday, merchant, Bosebank, died 2d October 
1822, aged 65, his wife^ Jane Williamson, her sister Marion, 
and his son William, -writer, also of Bosebank, died 2d Octo- 
ber 1858, aged 61, are commemorated, with several relatiyes, 
hy a structure which, though rather too heavy in the en- 
tablature, is massive and imposing : the other names in the 
inscription are those of Bobert HaUiday, surgeon, died at 20, 
Margaret died at the same age, and Jessie at 66, the latter 
the wife of Major John Johnstone, Queen's Boyal Begiment of 
Foot, and all three the oflGspring of William Halliday, senior. 

About forty-five years ago, an old building in High Street, 
that was long occupied as a Council Chamber (chief scene 
of the famous Pyet and Crow conflict) was turned into 
''The Bainbow Tavern," by William Kerr, whose monu- 
ment we havd now reached. The ingenious ''apparatus^ 
used by the worthy host for " conjuring up spirits from the 
vasty deep" of his cellars, two storeys below, was deemed 
worthy of special notice by Mr. M'Diarmid in his Picture cf 
DumfrieSy the statement being added that '' The premises are 
roomy ; and in the ancient seat of justice, groups of friends, 
over a pipe and can, discuss the merits of magistrates them- 
selves." Mr. Kerr occupies now but a very little chamber : 
he died at Liverpool, 13th March 1865, after a lengthened 
lease of life, extending to 85 years. Mary Taylor, his flrst 
wife, died at 35 ; James, their son, a surgeon, died at 21 ; 
six other children, who died young; and Ann Kerr, his 
secoDd wife, died at 70, are also named upon the modument. 

A very handsome monument of red sandstone, with white 
marble tablet, rises in memory of James Watson, 'Mate 
publisher of the Dumfries Standard^* an excellent printer 
and amiable man, died 30th January 1849, aged only 34; 
and of his wife, Agnes Creighton Gibson. On the plinth 
appears the following inscription : " This stone is erected by 
a loving, devoted, and affectionate son." The name of Mr. 
Watson's brother, Thomas, who followed the same occupa- 



186 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

tion, and died 22d July 1848, aged 35, is carved on a smaller 
stone within the same compartment. Both were from Edin- 
burgh, whence supplies of printers used to be drawn for 
Dumfries, but now the home offices can furnish all that are 
required. On another small headstone, erected by John 
Gibson, cabinetmaker (father of Mrs. James Watson), appears 
the name of Hugh Hope, clockmaker, who died 3d September 
1828, at the venerable age of 83, and of his wife Janet 
Anderson ; and facing these stands the monument of 
"William B. Denniston, whp was the son-in-law of Mr. 
Hope. 

A gallant Highland soldier, Donald M'Intosh, Lieutenant 
Quarter-Master of the old Dumfriesshire Militia, died 20th 
April 1821, aged 47, is quartered near by in virtue of no 
voluntary billet, together with Jean Milligan, his spouse ; 
Ensign Andrew Donald, their son, died at 33 ; Margaret, 
their daughter, relict bf Lieutenant John Henderson of the 
49th Regiment, died 11th October 1849, and Jane, another 
daughter, wife of James Shaw, long a respected residenter of 
Dumfries, but now located at Stroud. Mrs. Shaw, who was 
celebrated as a professional musician, officiated for many years 
as organist of the Episcopal Church, Dumfries, and numerous 
lady pianists of the Burgh are indebted to her for their 
acquirements in the tuneful art ; she died at the age of 70, 
19th March 1874. 

Overlooking a number of ordinary tombstones, there shoots 
up one of pure white marble, which challenges admiration on 
account of its graceful proportions and beautiful carved work. 
It is cruciform peaked at the top, with diagonal bands clasp- 
ing the lower shaft, bearing the cheering words : " I will not 
leave you comfortless, I will come to you ;" and with a dove 
(the bird of hope) cut upon the plinth, below a small cavity, 
over which we see the words "Alta Petit." This fine 
memorial cross is in memory of John Stott of Netherwood, 
died 2d August 1866, aged 45. It rises above an evergreen 
parterre, kept so neatly as to give it increased effect. Mr. 
Stott*s parents, William Stott, merchant, died 20th August, 
1823, aged 38, and Mary Sloan, who died on the fourth day 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 187 

afterwards, are commemorated within the enclosure ; also, 
Robert Stott, residenter in Dumfries, died 3d March 1821, 
aged 42 ; and on a table-stone outside we find the name of 
Janet Stott, spouse of Samuel Inman, merchant, the latter of 
whom died of cholei'a in 1832, aged about 54, together with 
the names of their four children : Isabella, Mary, Jane, and 
Samuel, whose ages are not given. Mrs. Inman, died 1st 
December 1814, aged 42. " She was," it is stated, " a loving 
wife, an affectionate mother, and a faithful friend.'' 

At a time when there were not more than two or three 
apothecary's shops in the Burgh, the chief trade in drugs was 
carried on by James Fraser, surgeon, died 11th February 
1841, aged 56 ; his memory is preserved by a neat monu- 
ment, bearing also the names of his wife, Eliza Hoyle, and 
seven of their children, no fewer than four of whom died 
abroad, at ages not specified — ^Robert in Demerara, 1837 ; 
Sarah, wife of "William M'Dowall, in Jamaica, 1847 ; 
William, a physician, at Spanish Town, Jamaica, 1863 ; 
Isabella, wife of " A. H. Hall, Esquire, 2d "W. I. Regiment," 
died off Cape Palmas, "Western Africa, in 1864 ; another 
daughter, Margaret, wife of " D. J. Thomson, S.S.C.," died 
nearer home, at Edinburgh, in 1847; the others dying in 
early childhood. 

A stlitely monument of Grecian design tells also of adven- 
turous " foreign travel " pursued and of dangers on the deep 
incurred by members of another family, that of William Bell, 
turner, died 10th October 1836, aged 57, and Agnes Paterson, 
his spouse : Andrew, drowned off Cape Clear when sailing 
from Calcutta for the home he never saw again, 10th Decem- 
ber 1830 ; James, fatally struck down by fever, on board the 
Jumna, when in the Bay of Bengal, 22d November 1833 — 
the age of each having been only 20 ; Jessie Bell, wife of 
Robert Wallace, painter, Glasgow, died at 31 ; Captain John 
Bell, an intelligent officer, died in London 21st September 
1857, aged 36, but "here interred," and two young children, 
complete the obituary list. The monument bears to have 
been erected by William, Solicitor Supreme Courts, eldest 
son of William Bell, senior. 



188 MEMORIALS OF 8T. MICHASL's. 

Two respectable meu^ father and son^ connected with, 
the bread-stuff trade, are borne in remembrance by a 
handsome edifice : James Chalmers^ baker^ who died at 
Oluden Milla, 27th November 1848, aged 72 : '' Honest and 
upright* were his transactions through life, and at death re- 
gretted ;" William, his son, who died at West Cluden, 29th 
August 1872, aged 57 : " He was generous in all his actions, 
pure in principle, and kind without ostentation." When 
they died, the expressive scriptural figure would be literally 
realised, "The sound of the grinding is low^ because man 
goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the 
streets." Of Mary Hannah, spouse of Mr. Chalmers, senior, 
also named in the inscription, it is said that "she was an 
affectionate Wife and a loving mother;" also Agnes, their 
daughter, who died at 12, and a son cut off in infancy. 

A neat little stone, bearing upon it carved representations 
of the mallet, chisel, and other tools of the mason's trade, 
rises to commemorate one of its members, James Beattie, 
died 19th November 1854, aged 72 ; Elizabeth Cunningham, 
his wife ; and Jane, his sister, wife of George Irving, died 
at Greenbrae, 16th October 1865, aged 88. 

The next stone bears the name of Bobert M'Adam, long 
the leading watchmaker in Dumfries : he died 24th Decem- 
ber 1845, aged 57 ; and was succeeded by his son <^ the same 
name, who has also gone to the land where no time-reckon- 
ings are kept. Ellen Telford, wife of the former; their 
children, Jessie, who died at 22, Sophia at 28, Ellen at 33, 
and two infants, are also mentioned in the inscription. We 
have heard the younger Mr. M'Adam state that when 
his father commenced business not more than a dozen gold 
watches were worn in the Burgh ; now, after the lapse of 
sixty years, at least five hundred of the inhabitants indulge 
in the luxury. 

Of one whose business it was to " go down to the sea in 
ships " we are reminded by a handsome structure next ar- 
rived at, bearing as it does the name of Daniel Cassady, who 
owned as well as commanded the brig Thetis, which hailed 
from Dumfries. Death overtook the worthy mariner when 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 189 

on a return voyage from Quebec, 18th November 1862, at 
the age of 51. His son Eobert, who died at 33, is also 
borne in remembrance by the monument. 

About sixty-six years ago the Dumfries Independents or 
Congregationalists, then a small body worshipping in Irish 
Street, obtained for minister the Bev. John Dunn previously 
of Bei-wick-on-Tweed, under whose faithful pastorate their 
numbers greatly increased. He was possessed of something 
like apostolic fervour — "a burning and a shining light" — 
realimig in many respects Cowper's famous picture of "a 
preacher such as Paul :'' 

** In language plain, 
And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste, 
And natural in gesture ; much impressed 
Himself as conscious of his awful charge, 
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
May feel it too ; affectionate in look. 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men." 

During his ten years' sojourn Mr. Dunn took an active 
part in various philanthropic movements in the Burgh and 
neighbourhood. His memory is still fondly cherished by the 
few remaining inhabitants who knew from observation what 
he was and what he did. By a neat monument in this part 
of ^t. Michael's he is also kept in remembrance, together with 
his wedded partner, the inscription being as follows : 

*< Erected to the memory of Mr. John Dunn, pastor of the Inde- 

Jendent Church, Dumfries, who suddenly, on the 29th of February 
820, came to the close of a life eminently devoted to the work of 
faith and labour of loye^ aged 44 years. Be ye also ready, for in 
such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.* Of Martha 
Maxwell, relict of the above designed Mr. Dunn, who died at Dal- 
beattie upon the 31st of December 1839, aged 80 years, her surviving 
relatives bear this testimony, that as her life was eminently dis- 
tinguished by a practical subjection to the Gospel of Christ, so was 
her death remarkable for the gracious vouchsafement of promised 
peace." 

On the pediment of the stone is carved a sickle thrust 

through a shock of com, to symbolise the doings of the 

** Reaper whose name is Death." 



FRONTING THE FIRST INNER SECTION. 

N the compartments which fringe the north side of the 




footpath are laid men who occupied a prominent posi- 
tion as merchants, mechanics, or manufacturers ; aJso 
a doctor, a soldier, two divines, and several members of other 
professions. Proceeding westward, we pass first a tomb- 
stone bearing the name of a much respected Excise officer. 
Collector Robert M'Oacken, died 18th December 1819, aged 
64, " erected in grateful remembrance of departed worth." 

The next monument is eloquent in praise of one who was 
for nearly a quarter of a century minister of St. Michaers, 
the Rev. Dr. Scot, an eloquent preacher of the Blair school, 
which in his day dominated over the pulpit theology of the 
National Church. He was the trusted friend not less than 
the devoted pastor of his people, and was much esteemed by 
the general community, in token of which a fine marble bust 
of Dr. Scot, " erected by public subscription," was placed in 
the porch of the church soon after his demise. In Holland, 
where he laboured when a youDg man, his life was an event- 
ful one, compared with " the even tenor " of his later years. 
He exposed himseK to considerable peril in doing what he 
could to protect the interests of his flock when attacked by 
French invaders, and during the turbulence that ensued he 
lost his books and other valuables, some of which, however, 
if not all, he eventually recovered. Reference is made to 
this exciting episode in the epitaph, which we subjoin : 

"Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Alexander Scot, D.D., who 
died June 26th 1830, in the 82d year of his age and 50th of his 
ministry. Ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church at Rotter- 
dam in 1780, he continued there till the French invaded Holland in 
1795, when he returned to his native country, and in the course of 
that year was admitted to the pastoral charge of the New Church of 
Dumfries, from which he was translated to St. Michael's in 1806. 
The rational yet aflfectionate piety which pervaded his devotional 
compositions, the substantial excellence of his pastoral instructions, 
adapted both to enlighten the understanding and impress the heart, 
not only commanded the admiration and esteem of his flock, but 
rendered him the object of their love. Through the blessirg of 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 191 

heaven on the discretion with which he managed his affairs, he se- 
cured the means of being^ charitable, and by liberally yet un- 
ostentationsly aiding the friendless and unfortunate, he evinced a 
mind deeply imbued with the principles of true Christian bene- 
volence. Discharging with ability and faithfulness every pro- 
fessional duty, and exemplifying the modesty, purity, and integrity 
required by the Gospel, he proved himself a good minister of Jesus 
Christ." 

On the plinth of the stone is inscribed the name of Dr. 

Scot's spouse, Janet Kirkpatrick, a daughter of "W". Kirk- 

Patrick of Conheath, and an aunt of the Countess of Montijo. 

An adjoining stone bears the name of George Haugh, who 
died 28th January 1838, aged 80. A neat, though an un- 
pretentious structure, it ought not to be passed hurriedly by, 
seeing that Mr. Haugh lived right above the lodging in the 
" Wee Vennel " which Bums occupied when he first came to 
Dumfries, and was, as Robert Chambers tells us, treated by 
the poet "on a familiar footing, as a neighbour." The 
deceased was besides a douce, honest blacksmith, toiling 
hard, like the model one celebrated .by Longfellow, that he 
might be able to " look the whole world in the face, for he 
feared not any man." The tombstone bears the name of his 
wife Agnes Copland ; of their son, James Haugh, also a 
respectable and intelligent hammerman, who died March 
1862, aged 68 ; also of their daughters Agnes, an infant, 
David Blair, died when 25, Margaret, wife of J. A Pearce, 
ironfounder, died at Carlisle, aged 62, and Jane Gracie, aged 
66. A headstone rises in the same compartment to com- 
memorate three youthful children, Edwin and Charles Pearce, 
and Samuel, son of B. "W". Pearce, Belfast. 

To the memory of Hugh M^Kaught, spirit merchant ; his 
wife, Jean Hamilton ; and their son William, who died at 
sea, aged 31, and two infant children, a neat monument is 
devoted. Mr. M'Naught died when threescore, 28th Novem- 
ber 1844. 

The next stone rises in memory of Frances Every, second 
wife of Major William Miller, whose father was the cele- 
brated Patrick Miller of Dalswinton. She was the youngest 
daughter of Sir Edward Every, baronet, of Eggington Hall, 
Derbyshiie, and died 16th August 1824. Major Miller's 



192 MSMOBIALS OF ST. MICHAXL's. 

first partner was, as we have already seen^ ''the lovely 
young Jessie" Staig of Bums' verse. He was buried in 
Greyfriars* Churchyard, Edinburgh. 

In the early part of the current century, when the heads of 
men were made subject to the hands of the barber with his 
hair-powders, pig-tails, wigs, and perfumery, a prosperous 
trade in that line was carried on by William Smith, who 
occupies a place in the next compartment. As his premises 
were in English Street, opposite the King's Arms Hotel, it 
was conveniently situated for the numerous strangers who 
put up at that famous establishment ; and to not a few men 
of note among them Mr. Smith's shop was a familiar howf or 
place of call, they being led to frequent it as much by his 
genial gentlemanly manners as for business purposes. At 
that time also the Theatre in Shakspeare Street drew under 
its attractive influence the gentry of the neighbourhood, and 
the balls and the assemblies of the Burgh were more numer- 
ous than in our own day ; which circumstances tended greatly 
to increase the trade of the fashionable hairdresser and per- 
fumer. Mr. Smith numbered several theatrical stars among 
his friends, especially the brightest of them all, Edmund 
Kean. When quite a youth, he frequently saw Bobert 
Bums, of whose appearance he retained a distinct recollection. 
He has told us that the poet's eyes were something wonderful 
— piercing and lustrous, like orbs of fire ; the only eyes he 
ever saw at all comparable with them being those of Kean. 
Mr. Smith was for a while a member of the Town Council 
and Treasurer of the Burgh. When he died on the 26th 
February 1866, at the patriarchal age of 84, a link was broken 
away betweeti the past and present centuries ; and many in- 
teresting reminiscences of old times which he had stored up 
in his memory were irrecoverably lost. The stone also bears 
the name of his wife, Mary Ferguson. 

By means of a truly magnificent structure, John Bryden, 
wine merchant, and his spouse, Elizabeth Caird, are likely 
to be long held in remembrance. His death at the age of 
46 caused a very solemn sensation, not simply because the 
Burgh was thereby deprived of a well known and worthy 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 193 

inhabitant^ but because he was the first middle-class man 
who suffered fatally from the cholera epidemic of 1832. On 
the 1st of Optober that year, fifty-six new cases and twenty- 
three deaths, of which his was one, were reported. Pre- 
viously to that date, it was the poorer classes only who had 
suffered ; but as the Cov/rier remarked at the. time, the re- 
moval of Mr. Bryden by the fell destroyer shewed that no 
rank of life was safe from its ravages, he being in his 
meridian prime, "moving in highly respectable society, and 
placed throughout life in the most comfoHable circum- 
stances.'' The death-roll upon the tablet includes six of his 
progeny — ^an infant daughter, Jemima Janet, who died at 7, 
Elizabeth at 24, John Hannah at 26, Bobert at 27, Mary 
Caird, wife of Gkorge W. Eeoch, bank-agent, Leith, at 42, 
and Mary, his sister, whose age is not recorded. 

On a tablet further west appear the names of John 
Threshie, surgeon, his wife Margaret Foreman, and their 
youthful child John : Mr. Threshie died at Minniehive lltK 
May 1857, aged 65. 

The Rev. Andrew Fyfe, long a zealous minister of the 
Belief body, receives commemoration from an adjoining 
monument. In his later years he, with most of his hearers, 
joined the Established Church ; but, disappointed in his 
desire to carry with theni their former place of worship (now 
used as a wool store by the Messrs Carlyle of Waterbeck), 
St. Mary's Church was built for them, and he preached in it 
as an assistant for several years. He died 12th April 1854, 
aged 69. His wife, Margaret Corson, and his father, 
William Fyfe, died 14th April 1824 (age not stated), are also 
commemorated by the monument ; together with Jane, his 
daughter, died at Birkenhead when 34, and William, an 
infant grandson. 

Of Bailie Harkness an account was given in a preceding 
chapter. His name again appears in a compartment where 
lie his father-in-law, William Wallace, writer, died 23d 
August 1818, aged 46, his mother-in-law Mary M'Vitie, with 
their offspring, an infant son, Grace died at 9, Thomas at 16, 
in Kingston, Jamaica, John at 33, in Sydney, New South 



194 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL^S. 

Wales, William at 44 in the same place, and Francis Lascelles 
at 41, in the district of New South Wales named after the 
Nithsdale of their fathers, rendered by distance doably dear 
to the family. Beside the monument erected over the parent 
pair, there are two of smaller size, one of which bears the 
following inscription : 

** Sacred to the memory of Mary Wallace, wife of Thomas Hark- 
ness. Writer and Commiaaary Clerk of Dumfriesshire, Who died at 
London, 26th May 1860, a^ed 59 years ; also of the Honble. Hugh 
Wallace of Kithsdale, Braidwood. New South Wales, a member of 
the Legislative Council of that Colony, who died at Braidwood, from 
the effects of an accident, on 6th June 1868, aged 58 years. He waa 
greatly beloved and respected in the Colony, where he had been re- 
sident 28 years." 

Mr. Wallace, who attained this lofty position at the Anti- 
podes and wore his honours so creditably, will be remem- 
bered by many of our townsmen, when, prior to 1840, he 
occupied premises as a china merchant near the foot of 
High Street. 

The second of the two smaller stones preserves the names 
of Mary and Francis, children of Hugh Wallace, both of 
whom died at his mansion of Braidwood, the former when 
4 and the latter when 6 years old. 

Long before our chief manufacture — ^tweeds — ^was thought 
of> a thriving hosiery trade was carried on in Dumfries, by, 
among others, William Dinwiddie, who lived to a ripe old 
age, much respected by his fellow-townsmen. He was for 
several year an efficient member of the local parliament, 
and honoured with a bailieship. His tombstone, now ar- 
rived at, states that he died 25th November 1868, aged 84 ; 
and it commemorates also his wife, Janet Thorbum, their 
two sons, James, who died at 31, and John, a skilful artist, 
who died at 40. Another son, Bobert, has long occupied an 
influential position among the merchants of New York. 

When reading upon the next moniunent, a neat Ionic 
erection, the name of Robert Scott, senior, we think not 
alone of it as a memorial, but of the gigantic tweed milk 
which enrich and also ornament the town, and all of which 
are traceable to the business sagacity and enterprise of the 
worthy gentleman who lies here mouldering iji the dust. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 195 

He started a hosiery establishment so far back as 1810, 
which is still flourishing ; and thirty-six years afterwards, 
in conjunction with members of his family, including his 
eldest son, Eobert Scott of Castledykes, who also lies buried 
here, he originated the great woollen manufacture of Dum- 
fries, which, as now carried on in three factories under the 
able management of Walter Scott & Sons, employs about 
1400 operatives, and produces some 2000 pieces of tweed 
cloth per month, or fully a million yards per annum. This 
colossal trade dwarfs in comparison our other industries, and 
but for it the Burgh would be poor indeed. We have heard 
the soaring stalk of the Nithsdale Mills spoken of as 'Hhe 
Scott monument -p and so long as our tweed manufacture 
with its palatial habitations keeps its place, giving bread to 
thousands, Robert Scott, senior, and his equally enterprising 
son, Robert, who died 8th November 1871, aged 58, will 
possess a prouder monument than any which mason could 
build or sculptor adorn. Mr. Scott, senior, lived to be 81 
years, his death occurring 7th May 1861. His spouse, 
Jane Lindsay, and two children who died in infancy, are 
interred beside him. 

Canopied over by a gorgeous monument, lies Robin, the 
little son of Mr. John L. Scott of Mollance, son of Mr. Robert 
Scott, senior, with whom he was long associated as an enter- 
prising promoter of the tweed trade. This structure, ex- 
quisite in design and of splendid workmanship, is in the 
Grothic style — ^the architect hiving been Mr. William R. 
Corson of Manchester (son of Provost Corson, Dumfries), 
and the builder and sculptor our townsman Mr. Flint. 
Within the recess there is a dur-ed representation of the 
raising of the widow's son ; and the inscription below states 
that the structure is in memory of Robin Lindsay Scott, who 
died June 5th 1862, aged 12 years. 

A little tablet on the wall is dedicated to John Hossack of 
Glengaber, and Buff Bay River, Jamaica, died 19th October 
1815, Aged 59. On numerous stones in St Michael's besides 
this one we find the island of Jamaica associated with ad- 
venturous Dumfriesians, shewing the close connection that 



196 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

was loDg maintained between the Queen of the South and 
the Queen of the Antilles. 

Blair, apostrophising 'Hhe great masters of the healing 
art," asks them ironically, What avail " their well-crammed 
magazines of health 1" when they too, " the doughty keepers 
from the grave," get imprisoned therein, not less than their 
patients. We have been often reminded of this passage 
while meditating among the tombs of St. Michael's, as many 
of these rise over sons of -^sculapius, who were greatly dis- 
tinguished for their professional attainments. Dr. John 
Laing, whose prison-house we now contemplate, was one of 
these — a worthy gentleman as well as a skilful physician : he 
died in 23d September 1832, aged 59. On the stone are 
engraved the names of his wife, Elizabeth Davidson ; their 
children, Elizabeth, who died at 10, and William at 3 ; of 
his second wife, Christina Elizabeth Gib ; and of John, his 
only son by the latter, who died at 22. 

To the memory of James K. M'Diarmid, painter, Dum- 
fries, a native of Edinburgh, the next stone is devoted. 
He was a tradesman of excellent taste, who did much to 
improve the style of house decoration, and also, by means of 
his extensive collection of steel engravings, to promote a 
relish for the fine arts among a generation that lived before 
good pictures ceased to be a luxury. He died 10th June 
1845, aged 70. On the stone appear also the names of his 
wife, Catherine Moodie, and of two of their children. The 
name of a third, James, remains to be added : he died in 
1873, aged about 59. 

"In death not divided." An affecting tale is told, as 

follows, by the inscription on the next stone : 

" In memory of James Balii, writer, Dumfries, and Alexina Gibson, 
his wife, who fell victims to tne scarlet fever in the prime of life, and 
within three days of each other : the one died on the 24th of June 
1815, and the other on the 26ih of June 1815 ; and they were here 
Interred on the same day, and in the same grave. The high esteem in 
which they were held in life was only equalled by the genenJ regret 
evinced at their death, and the singular circumstances attending it 
afford a most lasting and melancholy proof of the uncertain tenure 
of our earthly existence." 

An obituary notice of Archibald Bain, a decent old derk, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MlCHAEL^S. 197 

who had engrossed more foolscap pages than anj contem- 
porary in Dumfries, has been added recently : he was 
brother of James Bain, also of John Bain, cabinetmaker, 
and died 4th February. 1876, "at an advanced age." 

During a period of thirty years, ending about 1828, the 
Mill Hole of Dumfries, humble though its designation is, 
was the seat of a most extensive establishment, whence were 
sent out sumptuous fabrics in the cabinet and upholstery 
line to all the country round. There was nothing like it, 
we believe, in Scotland, out of Edinburgh and Glasgow, at 
the time. The business was carried on under the once 
familiar name of Gregan & Creighton, and after drooping 
for a while, it was revived by our townsman, Mr. William 
Gregan, a son of the first named partner, and is still 
carried on by him to as great an extent as ever. The other 
member of the firm, James Creighton, lies buried in the 
neatly kept compartment next arrived at, together with his 
wife Agnes (one of the Thorburns of Kelton, and sister of 
the Eev. William Thorbum, Troqueer) ; the following 
children and other relatives being also named on the 
memorial stones within : James Thorbum Creighton, an 
infant child ; a second son of the same name, died at Liver- 
pool, 9th June 1857 ; with his wife, Margaret Briley, died 
at Liverpool, IQth April 1862 ; a daughter, Elizabeth, died 
17th September 1873 ; her husband, John Sloan, serjeant in 
72d or Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders, died 23d 
February 1872 ; and a grandson, George, died at Edin- 
burgh, 17th April 1842. Mr. Creighton was a man of great' 
practical experience, business enterprise, and general intelli- 
gence ; and having entered the Council, his municipal 
services were acknowledged by his being twice elevated 
to the magisterial bench. Bailie Creighton died 10th De- 
cember 1848. No ages are specified on the monument. 

With the name of Robert Watt as the respected head of a 
large ironmongery establishment, the Dumfries public have 
been long familiarised. On the grates, fenders, and other 
metallic furnishings of numerous mansions erected between 
1820 and 1845, the name figures as a "household word," 



198 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

inscribed on a more durable material than the monument 
raised over his remains, and still bearing witness to the 
extensive character of his trade. Mr. Watt died 25th 
December 1846, aged 65. He was twice married, both wives, 
Grace Creighton and Mary M'Turk, with six children by the 
former, being named on one or other of the two memorial 
stones which appear in this compartment : three who died in 
infancy, "William Henry, drowned at sea when 26, Joseph, 
died at Port Morant, Jamaica, when 25, and Philip, died in 
Jamaica when 33. The name of another worthy son, John, 
who continued his father's business for many years, and died 
in 1874, has not yet been added to the inscription. 

Samuel Affleck, a respectable burgess who laboured in- 
dustriously among hoops and staves, rests near by, together 
with an infant daughter : he died 18th February 1864, aged 
64. A slab within the enclosure commemorates John Thom- 
son, died at Eamsay Cottage, Maxwelltown, 8th January 
1837, aged 67 ; his wife, Sarah Heid, and their little daughter 
Margaret, who, having predeceased them, is represented as 
addressing them thus : 

** My parents dear, I pray forbear, 
Ajiid do not grieve so much. 
For our Saviour tells us little ones 
His kingdom is of such." 

In 1827-8-9 the Burgh was ruled over by Provost WilHam 
M*Kie, whose name we read on an adjoining monument. 
He was an extensive manufacturer and commission agent, 
prosecuting a prosperous business for many years, and being, 
says the CowneTy "remarkable during his whole career for 
punctuality, perseverance, and untiring industry. On re- 
tiring from trade, he devoted much of his time to the 
charities of the town," and evinced in other respects " great 
anxiety to alleviate distress, combined with an ardent zeal 
for the promotion of every judicious public improvement" 
Mr. M'Kie made an excellent chief-magistrate, discharging 
his official duties creditably to himself and so as to render 
his "reign*' popular with the community. He died 30th 
May 1838, aged 66. The monument commemorates also 
James, his second son, bank-agent and solicitor, whose useful 



IfBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 199 

life was cut short on the 4th of February 1874. To the son. 
Dot less than to the father, the highest burghal rank would 
have been assigned by the inhabitants, through the Council, 
but Mr. James M^Kie repeatedly declined the proferred 
honour, content to use his talents and exercise his influence 
as a municipal commoner for the public weal. He took a 
great interest also in County affairs, and as a devoted 
member of the local Liberal party, he occupied a vanguard 
position on their side during the protracted stniggle for the 
representation of Dumfriesshire in 1868-9. "As a man of 
business '' — we quote again from the Courier — " Mr. M'Kie 
was much respected and trusted : in every transaction of life 
he was both just and sensitively honourable, and his sagacity, 
acquaintance with affairs, and never-failing desii'e to oblige 
where help was deserved, rendered him a safe counsellor and 
a valued friend." Mr. M'Kie died when he had reached the 
age of 53, at his beautiful mansion, Moat House, where his 
venerable mother, the sister of James Broom, resides with 
her daughter, and son, William, who was formerly a manu- 
facturer at Hawick. Thomas M*Kie, the well-known advo- 
cate, is another member of the family. 

For many years the chief, if not the only, dyeworks in 
Dumfries were carried on by Eobert Armsti'ong and several 
of his sons, who, with his wife, Agnes Benwick, are laid in 
the last compartment of the row. Than the father of the 
family no more honourable or pious man was to be found 
among his local contemporaries. He was for a lengthened 
period an office-bearer in the Congregational Church, and 
for several years a magistrate of the Burgh. He died 29th 
May 1834 (age not given). It is stated on the memorial 
stone regarding his son James, who died at 22, that " To an 
amiable and manly disposition he happily added undeviating 
rectitude of conduct, and pious resignation to his Creator's 
will.'' Another son, Anthony, is mentioned as having died 
at 30 ; another, Christopher, at 32 ; and a daughter, Jane, at 
48. A separate tablet is dedicated to a third son, William, 
died at 46 ; and his wife, Elizabeth Groome. Adam, a surviv- 
ing son, carries on a large business as an ironmonger in Leeds. 




INTEBIOR SECTIONS — NUMBER TWO. 

ASTWARD of the footpath that runs from the south 
gable of the church direct south there is a large 
oblong space of ground, over which we now pro- 
pose to travel. It is peopled by several leading merchants, 
numerous Tribunes of the Trades, and others. Even as a 
particular portion of St. Michael's Church (two-thirds of the 
gallery) was set apart for the Crafts when quick, so many of 
their leading men lie congregated when dead in this section 
of the Graveyard, which is within a few feet of the sacred 
fane. Facing the walk, at a little distance from each other, 
we see two handsome monuments in the Grecian style — one 
marking the spot where lies interred an enterprising mer- 
chant of the town, Christopher Armstrong, brother of Eobert 
Armstrong, dyer (whose memorial stone has just been 
noticed) ; and the other raised over the remains of an 
influential tradesman, James Nibloe. 

Mr. Armstrong was not only noteworthy as a business 
man, but as a useful public citizen, his character being 
summed up in the following notice, given by the Courier at 
the time of his death: — "Here, on the 11th curt, Mr. 
Christopher Armstrong. For a quarter of a century and 
more he devoted much of his time to public a&drs ; was an 
elder of the Church, treasurer to the Session [St. Michael's], 
and repeatedly held the office of Dean of Guild. A public 
almoner, his death has left a blank that cannot be supplied ; 
and though ever prompt in relieving the deserving, he was 
at the same time wonderfully quick in detecting and tracing 
imposture through all its manifold doublings and windings. 
Publicly and privately, he conciliated esteem by his cheerful, 
social, obliging disposition ; in his own family no man was 
more remarkable for the exercise of those virtues which 
render home the happiest spot on earth." Mr. Armstrong 
died on the 11th of May 1830, aged 53. He was twice 
married — ^flrst to Janet Harvls, and next to Christian Clark, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 201 

both of whose names appear with his own upon the monu- 
ment A slab in front commemorates his parents^ Christo- 
pher Armstrong, dyer, and Mary Wright, the former of whom 
died 7th April 1812, aged 67. 

From an immemorial period the sons of Crispin bulked 
largely among the craftsmen of the Burgh. When for 
mutual protection the separate incorporations bound them- 
selves together by a seven-fold cord, the Shoemakers could 
make a more numerous muster than any of the other trades. 
About ninety years ago they formed a total of 236 masters, 
journeymen, and apprentices ; the Squaremen following next 
with 220. Forty years since, James Nibloe was the leading 
man of the body ; and the extensive business carried on by 
him is continued by his son, Mr. William Nibloe. By 
natural ability, and by position, the deceased had a claim to 
the convenership of the Incorporated Seven, which was 
readily conceded, and he made a very good Chief of the 
Trades. Convener Nibloe died 24th October 1841, aged 55. 
The stone commemorates also his wife, Mary Miller, and 
several of their children. 

Three merchants, with members of their families or other 
relatives, are buried immediately behind the Armstrong 
monument, below altar-stones, on one of which we read of 
Andrew Kelly, died 19th August 1795, aged 59 ; Elizabeth 
Murray, his spouse ; Robei-t "Holder, died in Calcutta, 4th 
June 1857, aged 25, with his child daughter Elizabeth ; 
John Murray, died at Bareness, Southwick, 25th December 
1844, aged 62, with Janet Thorbum, his wife, and their son 
John, who died when 18. 

The second commemorates Thomas Jamieson, died 20th 
September 1784, aged 68 ; Janet Dickson, his spouse, seven 
youthful children, their daughter Janet, and her husband, 
John Samson, mason, who long carried on business in com- 
pany with Mr. Thomas M'Kaig. Not a few good hewers 
and builders were bred in their establishment ; and they 
numbered among their apprentices one who achieved dis- 
tinction in another line — Allan Cunningham. The Dumfries 
Academy and the Episcojml Chapel in Buccleuch Street, now 



202 MSSIORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

occupied by the Wesleyans, were erected by Samson & M'Kaig, 
and at both of these buildings the future poet and novelist 
tried his " 'prentice hand." Mrs. Samson, who long outlived 
her husband, was a lady of singular piety and worth. Both 
of them wero devoted members of the Independent Church ; 
and by a mutual disposition and deed of settlement executed 
by them in 1828, they generously devoted the sum of £400 
for behoof of that body. Mr. Samson died 14th May 1832, 
aged 68. Two years afterwards his widow, availing herself 
of reserved powers, facilitated the operation of the above 
legacy by a new disposition, of a piece of ground at the 
comer of Irving Street, granted in consideration of £175 ; the 
remainder of the £400 to be applied by trustees for the 
erection of a chapel. Among the first trustees were the 
celebrated Dr. Ealph Wardlaw and the Kev. Kob'ert Machray, 
the latter of whom was at that time minister of the congrega- 
tion here. One of the provisions of the deed is that the 
chapel shall be granted "free of rent to the Independent 
Church in Dumfries so long as the members shall hold and 
profess the same sentiments of the doctrines and institutions 
of Christianity and of Church government as are held and 
professed by the churches in connection with the Congrega- 
tional Union of Scotland ; but in the event of a part of the 
members renouncing t];iese sentiments in whole or in part, 
the trustees shall have power to grant the use of the chapel 
to the remaining part which continues in connection with the 
Congregational Union of Scotland." The chapel was subse- 
quently built on the ground referred to, the members and 
others contributing to the cost. The Rev. Hugh Campbell 
is its present minister. Mrs. Samson died at Laurieknowe, 
Maxwelltown, 10th April 1847, aged 75. 

During the fixst quarter of the current century Bobert 
Neilson, whose monument is in a line with the foregoing, 
occupied a position second to none among the merchants 
of Dumfries. He died in 1831, aged 76. His wife 
Ann M'Whir lies buried beside him ; she was the sister of 
James M*Whir, whose great services to the Burgh and Port 
we noticed in a preceding chapter. The stone also com- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL'S. 203 

memorates Mr. Neilson^s daughter Jessie, and her husbaDd, 
George Hahiing, merchant, the latter of whom died in 
Jamaica, 1828. 

. " Sown in corruption," to be " raised in incorruption," two 
worthy gardeners of Wellgreen, closely related to each other, 
lie with their wives side by side ; the little headstones which 
mark the spot stating that John Dickson died 16th August 
1852, aged "72 ; and David Crombie died 3d June 1811, aged 
71 ; the wife of the former and the daughter of the latter 
bearing the name 6i Stewart Crombie. To the memory of 
David Crombie and his spouse Ann Taylor, the following 
poetical tribute is inscribed upon the stone : 

" A father kind, a mother dear, 

Two faithful friends, lie buried here ; 
Free from maHce, void of pride, 
So they lived and so they died." 

Another gardener, Thomas Dalzell, died 6th October 1861' 
lies southward a little, with his spouse, Nicholas Kirkpatrick. 
On a flat slab in front of the headstones just mentioned 
appear the names of three young children, the issue of David 
Dickson, smith, Wellgreen. A table-stone and headstone 
adjoining commemorate other relatives, the first rising in 
memory of Adam Dickson, farmer. Moss-side, died 5th 
January 1781, aged 66, and Agnes Edgar, his spouse ; the 
second bearing the following names and dates : George 
Dickson, cabinetmaker, died at Liverpool 14th December 
1849, aged 72 ; his son. Captain Robert Dickson, died at the 
same town, 2d May 1854, aged 34 ; his young daughter 
Catherine ; John Young, weaver, died 25th April 1813, aged 
71, Malcolm Graham, his spouse, four children (ages not 
spedfied), and Janet Howat, youthful daughter of George 
Dickson, cabinetmaker. Other Dicksons are named on 
adjoining headstones : Thomas, ship-carpenter, who perished 
at sea 31st December 1828, aged 24 ; his son, John, coach- 
maker, died when 21, and his relict Helen Lowden, who was 
married again to John M'Caskie, and died 24th September 
1858, aged 52 ; also several juvenile members of the family. 

Near by we reach a row of ^ve old table-stones, all worthy 
of special notice. The first, which has suffered considerably 



204 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

from the corroding influence of time, is in memory of Thomaa 
Mouat, wig-maker, and of his wife, Mary Johnston. By 
the stone-cutter's aid, "the unlettered muse'* gives them a 
nautical epitaph in the following terms : 

'' Two lovers true for ten years space absented, 
By stormy sea's and wars yet liv'd contented. 
We met n>r eighteen years, and married were, 
Gk>d smil'd on us, our wind bleue always fair, 
We're ancor'd here, waiting our Master's call, 
Expecting with him, joys perpetuaJLL" 

Mr. Mouat died 8th November 1735, aged 64, his relict 
surviving him till SVth May 1772, when she died at three 
score and ten. 

On the next stone we read of Jean Greg, the spouse of a 
second Thomas Mouat, died 30th July 1729, aged 50, and 
their daughter Elizabeth, spouse of William Eeid, smith, died 
16th March 1741, aged 29. 

For saddlery there was not much demand in Dumfries 
before the Union. The horses used by our forefathers, 
whether for drawing ploughs, carrying wool-packs, or bearing 
freebooting raiders across the Border, would not, we fancy, 
be very daintily caparisoned ; and even the "riding graith" 
used in the early part of the last century would be of a 
homespun character, if not extremely rude. We have as 
yet met with the name of no saddler in the literature of the 
Churchyard more remote than that of Eobert Adamson, which 
appears on the next stone. The inscription upon it is some- 
what defaced by time, but we find from it that he was a 
Deacon of the Hammermen, that his spouse Jean Armstrong 
died 24th August 1738, and their two sons, William and 
Robert, are buried below; together with Robert Roddan, 
joiner, died 26th September 1797, aged 38, and Margaret 
Johnston, his spouse. 

The lettering of the next stone is still more antique : it 
tells us that "Here lyes Matthew Wightman merchant 
burges in Drumfries who departed this life January 8 1700 
and of his age the 53d year." Also "Elizabeth Inline his 
spouse who departed this life December 23 1702 and of her 
age 49.'' The name of their daughter Janet is added, the 



M1BMORIALB OF ST. HICSAEL's. 205 

whole closing with a poetical tribute, which is so worn-out 
that with great difficulty we ascertained that it is in some- 
thing like the following terms : 

'* Sincerely pious, and most traely just, 
, These hap^y thrie lyes sleiping in the dust, 
Whilst their hright spirits mid the adoring crowd 
Salvatione to the Lamb do cry aloud : 
In Baca*s vale of tears they darkly trode. 
While Zionward they travell'd, on the road, 
And won the crown that fadeth not away, 
And thus forgot the sorrows of the way." 

A minister of the gospel, who laboured long in the vine- 
yard, rests in the next layer. Very old-fashioned are the 
fading characters which strive to keep his memory green ; 
but if faithful in his stewardship, his name will never grow 
dim in the book of the recording angeL The inscription 
runs thus : 

" Here ly's the Bevd Mr David Wightman minister of the gospel 
46 years in the parishes of Tareggles and Applegarth who died upon 
the 6. Febriwary 1748. A severe application and search for truth 
distinguished his early years ; amiability modesty and condescension 
joined with distinguished talens [sic.] and [extensive] knowledge 
adom'd his riper years." 

The stone bears to have been erected by his relict, whose 
name, Marion Cannon, was afterwards added to the in- 
scription, with the words " She lived much loved, and died 
much lamented." It may be safely assumed, we think, that 
the Eev. Mr. Wightman was the son of Matthew "Wightman, 
who occupies the grave adjoining. 

From Dr. Hew Scott's learned work. Fasti Ecdesias 
Scoticance, we gather the following particulars of the deceased: 
David Wightman, A.M., graduated at the University of 
Edinburgh, 17th May 1699, was called to Terregles in June 
1702, and ordained on 23d September of that year. He 
demitted his charge on receiving a call to Applegarth, 27th 
February 1703; but the same was not sustained, "on ac- 
count of the use of that illegal and oppressive word patron f 
80 that a new one had to be appointed by the Presbytery, 5th 
March, under which he was admitted, 18th April. He was 
active in the settlement of Lochmaben in September 1723, 
which the Assembly next year declared to be null and void. 
He died 1st February 1748, aged about 67. He married 



206 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHA£L*S. 

Marion, daughter of John Cannon of Formistoun. She 
died 11th October 1762. Mr. Wightman, it further appears, 
published a quarto volume, entitled ",A vindication of Mr. 
John Taylor, minister of Wamphray," who had created a 
schism in that parish. The book was printed at Dumfries 
in 1718, doubtless by Robert Eae, the only typographer of 
which the Burgh or indeed the South of Scotland could at 
that period boast. With reference to the vitiating influence 
of the term " patron," as mentioned by Scott, we may state 
it was held in such bad repute that its use was disallowed in 
ministerial settlements from the Kevolution down till the 
time when " Lang patronage wi' rod o' airn " was restored by 
the Act of Queen Anne. 

Quainter than any of the stones in this quintuple row, 

rises one near by over a Deacon of the Squaremen and his 

spouse. The inscription, as it stands, might be entitled a 

study from the antique, of which, with the ordinary modem 

type at our disposal, we can convey but a very faint idea. It 

is to the following effect : 

" Here lyes Janet Mvrray spouse to Robert Newal Bvrges of Dmm- 
f ries Vright vho departed this life upon the 6 day of November WdG. 
Here lyes Robert Neuall late Deacon of Wrights wbo departed this 
life the 30 day of March 1717 and of his age 58. Erected by <^oige 
Pringel, 1717." 

Below these words the monumental sculptor has carved a 
shield, and filled it in, not with the usual grim mementoes of 
mortality or with the sexton's arms, the spade and mattock, 
but with the emblems of the honest Deacon's own trade, a 
square, a pair of compasses, and a hatchet, though the latter, 
with its big truculent blade, resembles more the headsman's 
gory axe than the wood-cutting weapon of a peaceful 
mechanic. 

On a more imposing altar-stone, a few paces eastward, we 
read the name of a man who, though he was neither deacon, 
convener, bailie, provost, nor yet dean of guild, gave law for 
a long while to the Council and the Crafts, and through them 
to the Burgh. This was Archibald Malcolm, who succeeded 
the Cunninghams^ Corries, and others, in whom was vested 
the Town Clerkship — an office that was fully as influential in 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 207 

the pre-Beform period as it is at tbe present day. Many 
pages of his handwriting fill up the Council Books during the 
latter half of the eighteenth century. He was in office when 
the Jacobite rebels occupied Dumfries ; and when five years 
afterwards the Government granted the sum of £2828 5s lid 
sterling to cover the money tribute and other exactions made 
by Prince Charles, Mr. Malcolm as Town Clerk distributed 
the amount among those who had been assessed or pluudered, 
for which duty, of course, he would be paid by a liberal per- 
centage. John Mayne gives him a prominent place at the 
Magistrates' Dinner, which followed the shooting for the 
Siller Gun, in 1777. Dr. Mutter having said grace, 

" The Town Clerk next, a fallow fine, 
Wha ne'er lo'«d water in his wine, 
Gart bring the great big gardevine,* 

And fill the glasses : 
Wi' thrice three cheers in bumpers syne 

The claret passes." 

A prosperous, not less than a powerful man, he erected the 
fine mansion now owned and occupied by one of his succes- 
sors in office, Mr. William Martin, the present worthy Town- 
Clerk, his request to the Council for leave to do so, dated 23d 
July 1753, setting forth "that he wished to remove several 
old thatched houses at the foot of Southgate-brae, of which 
he was proprietor, in order to build upon it a double house 
for his own residence." The design of the edifice, pure 
Corinthian, was furnished by the distinguished architect, 
Mr. Robert Adam of Edinburgh. Provosts Bell, Graham, 
Ferguson, Maxwell, Corbet, Hepburn, and Dickson, under 
whose " reign " their stylish clerk lived, might have had as 
good country houses as the Sotithgate-brae domicile ; but 
when that teneihent rose up, it was the best in the whole 
Buigh, and if it had shewn face a dozen years earlier, 
"Bonnie Charlie'^ would doubtless have seized it for his 
temporary palace, in lieu of Bichard Lowthian's house farther 
up the Highgate. Large as Archibald Malcolm's residence 
WBs, it would give but pinched accommodation to the immense 
family bom to him by his spouse, who was, in this sense, the 

* From the French word Oardevm, signifying a wine- bottle. 



208 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

most fmitful local yine of whom we have anj record. The 
iDBcription on the monument is subjoined : 

" Id memory of Mr. Archibald Malcolm, many years Town Cleik 
in Dumfries, who died the 7th of June 1795, aged 81 years. Jean 
Hay. his spouse, who died 9th April 1809, aged 92 years. ^ The 
parents of twenty-two children. Also Mrs. LiUias Adair, relict of 
the late Bev. William Adair, rector of Fermoy, Ireland, and youngest 
daughter, and 21st child, of the above Archibald Malcolm, who ched 
at Dumfries, 15th June 1854, aged 9i years." 

The adjoining stone^ which is of the same table form, com- 
memorates some near relatives of the Malcolms, namely, 
Robert Ramsay, writer (whose name we have often met with 
as clerk to the Trades), died 16th March 1810, aged 71 ; Jean 
Malcolm, daughter of the Town-Clerk, his spouse, died 15th 
January 1820, aged 80 ; also, Jean, their youthful daughter, 
Archibald^ their son, died at 30 ; George Hay, named after 
his grandmother, their third son, died in New Providence, 
Barbadoes, at 3 ; and Jean Creighton, spouse of John 
Ramsay, writer, their fifth and youngest son. 

To the memory of two Greorge Walkers, father and son, the 
next altar-stone is devoted. The elder was Deacon of the 
Squaremen : he died 22d August 1800, aged 43. Margaret 
Thomson, his spouse, and three of their youthful^ children, 
are also mentioned in the inscription. The younger, a 
cabinet-maker by trade, died 15th November 1862, aged 67 : 
Jane Edgar, his spouse ; their daughter, Margaret Munsie, 
who died at 32, and three of their children, cut oS when 
young ; another child by his second wife Elizabeth (whose 
maiden name is not given), Marion Walker Clark, died 28th 
April 1866, aged 27, and an infant, are also named upon the 
monument. 

It was in the venerable Friars' Vennel, the oldest street of 
the Burgh, that the Cordwainers or Shoemakers were domi- 
ciled most numerously ; and not a few of them moulder to 
dust io this section of St. Michael's. For many generations 
no name occurred among them so often as Irving. William 
Irving appears on the earliest roll of shoemakers extant (23d 
October 1657), though he did not dwell in the Vennel like 
most of his fraternity, but in the Brig-end (now Maxwell- 
town). Probably he would be able to count kinship with 



MSM0RIAL6 OF ST. MICHASL*S. 209 

the Provost Irvings of his day, in a nearer degree than the 
famous Andrew Fairservice, 'who boasted that "his mither's 
mither's third cousin was cousin to the Provost o' Dumfries ;" 
and he may have been progenitor of the respected trades- 
man, Peter Irving, whose name appears as Deacon of the 
Shoemakers, together with that of his wife Margaret Mus- 
grove, on a neat little monument further east ; he died 11th 
December 1839, aged 67. 

Eastward there are stones ^ which commemorate other 
Crispinites of the same name : John Irving, died 12th June 
1842, aged 73, with Alison Weir his spouse, their sons 
Alexander died at 17, John at 18, William at 23, and three 
infant children ; Peter Irving, Maxwelltown, died 10th 
September 1874, aged 78, with Elizabeth Haddon, his wife, 
and four youthful children. 

A chief of the craft, Deaxx>n David Anderson, died 6th 
February 1791, aged 75, with Isobel M'Kaig, his spouse ; 
Eobert Welsh, shoemaker, died 16th April 1803, aged 
62, with Maiion Charters, his spouse ; Thomas Anderson, 
shoemaker, died 23d February 1812, aged 62, with Nicholas 
Primrose, his spouse, their issue, four infants, Thomas 
died at 17, Barbara at 39, and Peter, also a cordwainer^ 
died 9th October 1832, aged 57, with his infant daughter ; 
Margaret Little, wife of James Affleck, shoemaker, died 25th 
August 1840, aged 37, with two of their youthful offspring ; 
John Weems, shoemaker, died 8th April 1798, aged 30 : all 
these atTe commemorated in the section. John Weems, pro- 
genitor of the last-named craftsman, lies also there, with 
his wedded partner. Christian Coulter, below a neighbouring 
thrugh, their streams of life dried up, waiting for the life 
etejnal, that will never experience ebb nor end. On the monu- 
mental wall that separates the section from the one lying south 
we read of Alexander Nicholson, shoemaker, died 3d April 
1829, aged 69 ; Isabella Aiken, his wife ; James, their son, died 
23d October 1842, aged 55, Marion Aiken his wife, and of 
their children, Mary died at 7, Primrose at 16, and James at 23. 

Before the cordwainers could fabricate foot-gear for the 
lieges, the butchers and the tanners, of whom we see several 

N 



210 VEMOBfALS OF ST. MICHAEL*S. 

memorials lying axonnd, had to ply their respective trades. 
As mentioned in a preceding chapter, the Gibsons often occu- 
pied a foremost rank among the Fleshers' Incorporation. 
We find their name in that capacity on two venerable 
thraghs. One of the inscriptions states that "Here lyes 
Janet Hanie spouse to James Gibson let Diken of the 
Fleshers who departed this life the 25 of April 1716, and 
of her age 38 years." In a less uncouth style it is added 
that the said Deacon occupies a place below, date of death 
28th January 1744, age 66 ; also a second Deacon James 
Gibson, died 18th August 1784, aged 44, together with Mary 
Dinwiddie, his spouse. On the other stone we read of "Agnes 
Martin spous to James Gibson Dicon of the Fleshers who 
departed this life the 23 October 1720 aged 24 years," of John 
Gibson, another Deacon of the Craft, died 2d February 1746, 
aged 34, and of Eachel Johnston, his spouse. Overlooking 
these humble slabs, rises a handsome headstone in memory of 
a well-doing burgess, whose forebears they commemorate — 
James Gibson, hosier, and member of the Town Council, died 
21st November 1861, aged 79 ; of Margaret Reid, his wife ; 
and of their son, Francis, who died in childhood. 

Two more Deacons of the Fleshers lie within an enclosure, 
a few feet distant from these other brothers of the craft, 
subject to the common experience that "All flesh is grass, 
and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." A 
headstone commemorates one of them, James Boan, died 
16th March 1784, aged 73 ; Margaret Milligau, his spouse; 
and two youthful children. To their son, James, second 
Deacon of the name, a separate table-monument is allotted. 
The latter carried on a large business, and was highly 
respected as a tradesman. He died 26th April 1839, aged 
66. Mary Smith, his relict, and Mary, his daughter, spouse 
of John M'Kie, bookseller, are named on the monument ; 
also Grace, another daughter of Deacon Boan, spouse of 
David Coulthart, saddler ; and William, a son, who died in 
London, 12th July 1874, aged 63. 

Ninety years ago, when the Fleshers of the Burgh, masters, 
journeymen, and apprentices, numbered 33, the Skinners or 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 211 

Tanners (associated "with whom were the Glovers) numbered 
only 23, they being the smallest of the Seven Incorporated 
Trades. At present, however, the craftsmen who provide 
our community with beef and mutton have been outstripped 
by those who convert hides into leather, the tanning and 
currying business of Dumfries having expanded very much 
of late. A' considerable trade in that line was carried on for 
the greater portion of a century by Bobert Watt and his 
descendants, whose family burying-place we have now 
reached. He died, as we learn from his tombstone, 14th 
March, 1801, aged 62 ; his wife, Elizabeth Forsyth (sister of 
Philip Forsyth, sen., of Nithside), with their children — 
John, aged 32, Samuel 25, both of whom died in Jamaica, 
and Agnes, wife of William Weir, died at 69 — being in- 
cluded in the inscription. 

Their son, William Watt, who continued the business first 
on his own account, and afterwards in conjunction with his 
son, Bobert, was a man of rare excellence— benevolent, 
virtuous, a devoted member of the Methodist Connexion, 
and long holding rank as one of our most popular Burghal 
rulers ; in which latter capacity he occupied a seat on the 
Magisterial Bench. Bailie Watt died 23d May 1868, on 
reaching the venerable age of 84. He was twice married : 
first to Elizabeth Jean Wilson, next to Elizabeth BaliefF. Of 
his son, Bobert, it may truly be said that he followed in 
the footsteps of his father, and like him he was deservedly 
honoured with a bailieship. Warm-hearted, amiable, and 
public-spirited, he was cut off in the midst of his usefulness 
3d April 1868, a few weeks before his father, at the early 
age of 48. 

For the first time we meet with the name Hayland in the 
Cemetery : it appears on the next altar-stone, as having 
been borne by a smith, whose Christian name was John ; 
also by his son William, copper-smith, a man of note, seeing 
that he w£|s chief niler over all the Trades, and as such pre- 
sided over the Silver Gun competition, 4th June 1796. The 
elder Mr. Hayland died 24th February 1762, aged 42 : his 
wife, Janet Whitt, with six children (ages not stated), are 



212 HEHOBIALS OF ST. KIGHASL's. 

included in the record ; besides Convener Hayland^ his wife, 
Jean Potts, two of their youthful offspring, his second wife, 
Janet Sloan, Helen, their daughter, died art; 14, and Jane 
Hayland (his daughter, probably, by the first marriage), 
wife of James Henry, died 20th May 1832. Convener Hay- 
land died 8th August 1819, aged 64. 

South-eajst of the Nibloe monument rises another stately 
one, sacred to the memory of Bobert M'Kinnell, nailmaker, 
who was also a magnate of the highest rank among the 
craftsmen of his day; and the trade whose flag bore the 
proud device ''By hammer in hand all arts do stand" had 
no more upright or respected member than Convener M*- 
Kinnell. He died 14th August 1834, aged 59. The name 
of his spouse, Margaret Bryden, also appears on the in- 
scription. 

Margaret Wilson, whose husband, John M'Greorge, was 
Convener of the Incorporated Seven, lies in an adjoining 
layer, beside her husband probably, though his nam« does 
not appear on the memorial stone : she died 14th January 
1823, aged 69. 

An altar tombstone near by commemorates, as follows, the 
two wives of a reverend gentleman whose own raonnment, 
farther south, has already been noticed, and which also bears 
the name of one of them : 

" In memory of Isabella Soott, wife of the Bev. Walter Dunlop of 
this town, who died on the 16th of January 1814. ** Blessed is she 
that believeth, for there shall be a performance of those things whioh 
were told her by the Lord ' — Luke i. 45. In memory also of Janet 
M'Lean, his second wife, who died on the 12th of June, 1828. She 
was in the prime of life, and her death addresses the living in the 
words of Holy Writ. * Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye 
think not, the Son of Man cometh.' '* 

To the memory of William M'Cracken, mason, his spouse, 
Janet M^eeckan, and several of their young childr^ a table 
tombstone is dedicated. He died 13th August 1792, aged 80. 
It is neighboured by a stately structure commemorative of 
his son, John M'Cracken, who carried on an extensive busi- 
ness as a builder, and died of cholera, 7th October 1832, 
at Glenluce, whither he had fled from Dumfries in a vain 
attempt to escape from the epidemic ; his age extending 



MBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 213 

to four score, like that of hk father. A croeeleted cross, 
with urns, surmounts the monument, the only specimen 
of that omam^it we have yet seen in St. Michaers. The 
inscription also bears the Dames of Mr, M'Cracken's wife, 
Mary Anderson, who predeceased him, of their eldest 
son, James, Captain in the East India Company's Native 
Infantry, Bengal, who died at Cawnpore, aged 31 ; of Eliza- 
beth Marley, his spouse ; and of another sod, William 
M'Cracken. The last named gentleman was. an accomplished 
and devoted medical practitioner, who, during the cholera 
visitation, caught the disease, and died, martyr-like, at the 
post of duty on the 2d of October 1832, a few days before 
his father, and on the very day when the highest number of 
deaths — forty-four — were reported. His brother, John 
M^Cracken — solicitor in the Supreme Courts of Scotland — a 
most worthy gentleman, is also mentioned in the inscription. 
He died in Edinburgh, 29th November 1873, aged 78. 

We next reach a very neat monument sacred to the memory 
of John M*Minn, manufacturer, a man of worth and intelli- 
gence, who died 9th October 1832, aged 55. Sarah Lindsay, 
his spouse (sister of Mrs. Bobert Scott, sen.) ; James Lindsay 
M^Minn, merchant in Demerara, their son, who died 15th 
November 1833, aged 28 ; and George M'Minn, a highly re- 
spectable sharebroker, Dumfries, another son, who died 18th 
December 1869, aged 54, are also included in the inscription. 
On the plinth is the intimation, '' Erected by Jessie M^inn, 
their daughter." 

Further west a little we read on a table-stone the name of 
John Glover, merchant, which recalls the figure of a vener- 
able burgess, who was fresh and genial even when bearing 
the burden of four score years and five. He died 30th 
December 1872. The monument commemorates also his wife 
Margaret ; their son, Robert Hiddleston, veterinary surgeon, 
died 2d June 1847, aged 25 ; her father, Robert Hiddleston, 
blacksmith, died 15th November 1825, aged 62 ; her mother, 
Mary Welsh ; with an infant granddaughter. 

There are two other tablet monuments along the same line 
as that of Alexander Nicholson, both commemorating mem- 



214 XSMORIALS OF ST. MICUAEL's. 

bers of the same family as f oUows : Robert Miller, weaver, 
died 16th April 1808, aged 71 ; Mary Alexander, his wife ; 
Thomas Miller, their sod, died 9th November 1836, aged 64 ; 
Isabella Dyett, his wife ; three of their youthful children ; of 
William, their son, died 2d May 1860, aged 60 ; George, 
another son, coal^ agent, died 3d October 1832, aged 48 ; 
Margaret Bobb, his spouse, their infant son, and George, 
second son, died at 15, who, it is said, *' was esteemed and 
beloved through life and most sincerely regretted at death." 

On the same line, eastward, rises a neat structure dedicated 
to James Kerr, long the leading plasterer of the district, and 
who occupied a high social position in the Burgh. He 
formed one of the six gentlemen who, on the night of March 
31st, 1834, descended into the vault of Bums's Mausoleum 
for the purpose of obtaining a cast of the poet's skull ; which 
delicate operation, as already mentioned by us, was carefully 
performed in Mr. Kerr's premises, North Queensberry Street. 
His death took place on the 6th Jidy 1836, aged 56. The 
names of his wife, Janet M'Night, and of seven of their 
children, also appear on the monument ; the latter including 
James, died at 22, and Anne, wife of the distinguished 
journalist, James Pagan, of the Glasgow Herald, Mr. Pagan 
died 11th February 1870, and, together with his wife, lies 
interred in Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow. He was brought 
up in that famous nursery of newspaper editors, the Dumfries 
Courier, and his wife was niece to its editor, Mr. John 
M'Diarmid. Within the enclosure in St. Michael's, which is 
very neatly kept, there is placed a table tombstone which 
commemorates the parents of Mrs. Kerr and Mrs. M'Diarmid. 
WiUiam M*Night, merchant, who died 6th December 1807, 
aged 63, and ^nn Thompson, his wife, and two of their 
children. 

Beaatiful in sentiment and expression is the following 
epitaph, which we find upon a humble altar-stone : 

" Here lies all that could die of the pious Margaret Selkirk, wife of 
John Thorbum, shoemaker, Dumfries, who departed this life 15tii 
February 1812, in the 50th year of her age ; and by the grace of God, 
and the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in joyful hope of a 
glorious immortality.'* 



IfEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 215 

The husband long outlived his sainted partner, his death 
occurring 30th December 1832, at the age of 84. A second 
wife, Frances Morley ; John, issue of the first marriage, 
died 9th August 1840, aged 61 ; and two children of the 
latter — John, died at 22, , and Margaret at 40 — are also 
named upon the monument. More than ordinary interest 
attaches to this memorial stone, from tlie circumstance that 
Mr. Bobert Thorbum, the great miniature painter, is a son 
of John Thorbum. While the future artist was attending 
the Dumfries Academy, Mr. John Craik, master of the 
writing department, noticed and fostered his dawning 
genius, and at his instance he went to London, where he 
rose to the highest professional eminence, excelling especially 
as a miniature painter. In 1845, while yet comparatiyely 
young, he executed by commission a portrait of the late 
Prince Consort, and among his productions in the two 
following years were portraits of Queen Victoria, the 
Princess Charlotte of Belgium, and the Duke of Brabant. 
The Mefth of the Times, in a subsequent notice of the dis- 
tinguished Dumfries artist, says : " He has continued to ad- 
vance in reputation, and his groups of the Hon. Mrs. 
Norton's family, of the Marchioness of Waterford, Vis- 
countess Canning, and of the Duchess of Buccleuch, Ladies 
Scott and Balfour, elicited special admiration." 

Many years before the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the 
Dyers were numerous enough in Dumfries to constitute a 
guild of their own ; but before the end of tlie seventeenth 
century they seem to have been amalgamated 'with the 
/ Tailors' Licorporation. These ancient litsters (as they were 
termed), the trade progenitors of the Armstrongs and the 
Shortridges of our own day, did not as a rule deal in fancy 
colours. With them " true blue " was the prevailing tint, and 
home-grown wool its chief recipient in the shape of yarns for 
the spinning wheel or substantial cloth woven by hand-loom 
weavers — ^the humble prelude of the tweed fabrics for which 
our Burgh has come to be so famous. The Rebecca Grierson 
whose name appears on the stone just noticed was the 
daughter of " a wabster guid," who lived at a period when 



216 MSVORIALS OF ST. VICHAEL's. 

this primitive' woollen trade was still flourishing, and who 
may have turned out " bine bonnets " innumerable, and must 
have litstered lots of hoddan-grey for the better-class burgesses 
of the district. Fast and true he must have been in his 
social relationships not less than in the colours of his trade, 
if the following inscription on his himible monument be not 
over-coloured ; 

" Here lie interred the remains of John Grierson, dyer, Dumfries, 
who departed this life on the 27th January, 1797, in the 86th year 
of his age. Esteemed by all who knew hun sb a kind husband and 
tender parent, a sincere friend, and honest man." 

Married first to Bebecca Fergusson, who departed this life 
March 22d, 1755, aged 42, ^* a humble Christian, a sincere 
friend, an affectionate wife, and a tender-hearted mother ;" 
he afterwards wedded Susanah Cairns, who survived him ten 
years, and of whom her children are ^represented as saying— 

" Reader, she feels her loss 'no more : her dust is commingled with 
his. She waits, Hke him, the rewards of eternity — a mother whom 
they who now attest her virtues can only remember with reverence 
and regret." 

Under an altar-stone further east lies a younger craftsman, 
with whom the veteran litster would, it may be, have much 
business intercourse — John Paton, Deacon of the Weavers, 
died 21st May 1765, aged 38, and Mary NewaU, his spouse ; 
the stone commemorating also their son John, killed at the 
defence of Gibraltar, when that strong fortress was besieged 
by the Spaniards in September 1782, the gallant soldier 
falling lifeless at the age of 28. The name of Newall, as 
borne by relatives probably, is repeated on adjoining head- 
stones, one of which is devoted to a second " son of Mars," 
James Newall, sergeant of the Royal Artillery, who served 
under Colonel de Peyster during the whole American war, 
''left the lines and tented fields" after an experience of 
forty years, and, dying 18th March 1825, aged 79, found 
peace in the grave at last. 

" Soldier, rest ; thy warfare's o'er ; 
Dream of battle-fields no more !" 

His spouse, Jean Hill, lies sleeping by his side. On another 
stone we read of a second Sergeant Newall (Christian name 
John), who belonged to the Dumfriesshire Militia, died 9th 



MEMORIALS OF ST MICHABL's. 217 

March 1813, aged 36 ; of his wife, Henrietta Blacklock ; 
and their offspring, John died at 39, Janet died at 49. 

For the sake of connection, we here notice a table tomb- 
stone which rises further west in memory of a third soldier. 
Corporal William Nicholson, of the 26th or Cameronian 
"Regiment. It does not record his gallant actions ; but we 
know that he fought in the Peninsula under General Sir 
John Moore, was taken prisoner during the memorable re- 
treat from Corunna, was confined in France till 1814, and 
that he died in Dumfries, 1st May 1857, aged 72. Corporal 
Nicholson received a medal in recognition of his services, 
dated 1793-1814, which is now in the possession of his 
daughter, Miss Nicholson, St. Michael Street. His wife, 
Janet Graham ; James, their son, who died at 27 ; and Janet 
Nicholson, spouse of Daniel Inglis, died 6th December 1801, 
aged 72, are also specified in the inscription. 

By tables or headstones in this section the following other 
craftsmen, with their relatives, are borne in remembrance : 
Samuel Clark, mason, died 8th January 1853, aged 56, his 
children — John, also a mason, died at 37, Jane at 22, Marion 
at 37, " after a long and severe affliction borne with Christian 
patience and resignation ;" John Thomson, joiner, died 2d 
December 1867, aged 88, with Margaret Martin, his spouse, 
their children — four who died young, James at 21, Jjohn at 
22, William at 24; William Crosbie, joiner, died 18th 
January 1799, aged 85, with Jane Gillespie, his wife ; John 
Beck, tailor, died 25th September 1832, aged 61, Elizabeth 
Johnston, his spouse, Mary, their daughter, died at 27, 
Mary, daughter of Joseph Beck, died at 14, an infant son, 
and John, " a youth of gi^eat promise," aged 19 ; James 
Haining, tailor, died 16th April 1839, aged 57 ; Edward 
Duncan died January 27th 1734, aged 64, with Isobel 
M'Kenrick, his spouse, and David, youngest son of James 
Haining, merchant tailor ; two youthful children of Samuel 
Wilson, tailor, Ann Wilson, died 11th October 1847, aged 
62, her sister Margaret, died 27th April 1854, aged 78 (pro- 
bably both sisters of the said Samuel Wilson) ; Robert 
M'Caskie, who long plied his vocation as hairdresser in the 



218 3(EHOBIALS OF ST. UICHAEL's. 

Vennel, died 4th December 1837, aged 73, with Isabella 
Copland, his spouse. 

An altar-stone tells the place where lie William Smith, 
innkeeper, died 30th June 1822, aged 49, Marion Pringle, 
his spouse, and three of their youthful progeny; and a 
humbler memento appears of another "publican," Andrew 
Scott, died 30th January 1818, aged 50. Conmaemorated 
by table-stones lie John Allan, died 30th April 1751, aged 
25, Margaret Crosbie, his spouse, Janet, their daughter, wife 
of William Fergusson, died 1st January 1799, aged 68 ; 
William Bellinger, died 10th August 1799, aged 49, with his 
wife, Helen Smith, and their son John, who died at 25 ; 
James Rowlandson, farrier, died 1st June 1785, aged 42, 
with Eose Sandys, his spouse, Agnes, their daughter, who 
died at 60, Sarah, another daughter, wife of William Robert- 
son, died at 56, and three other children, who died young ; 
George Johnston died 1st April 1809, aged 73, Elizabeth 
Rowlandson, his wife, and an infant granddaughter ; Peter 
Galen, an Ulster man, born in its flourishing capital, Belfast, 
died 21st July 1815, aged 41 ; William Welshe of Scar 
died 28th March 1780, aged 43, Mary Newall, his wife, 
with a youthful son, William Newall of Barskeoch (her 
brother probably), died 18th February 1809, aged 72 ; and 
William Johnston, who, after a successful mercantile career 
in Demerara, spent his closing years at Netherwood Bank, 
dying 11th November 1840, aged 75. 

On headstones not previously noticed we read of Annie 
Nichol, wife of James Ross, died 26th March 1865, aged 23 ; 
of Jean Sturgeon, who had reached the advanced age of 84, 
when she died 9th March 1842 ; of Edward Duncan, died 
27th January 1754, aged 64, with Isobel M'Kenrick, his 
spouse ; of James Somerville, master of the schooner "Alex- 
ander,'' died 12th February 1858, aged 69 ; of James Din- 
widdle, died 15th July 1792, aged 57, with Rachel Nicholson, 
his spouse, and David (their son, we believe), died 1st February 
1831, aged 87 ; and on a diminutive slab the names of nine 
youthful members of one family circle, that of William Lookup, 
remorselessly broken in upon by " the destroying angeL" ' 




SECOND INTERIOR SECTION — CONTINUED. 

EVEBAL sons of Esculapius, who practised tbe healing 
art in Dumfries about the middle of the last century — 
Dr. James Hay, Dr. George Archibald, Dr. Ebenezer 
Gilchrist, Dr. James Morrison, Dr. Robert Mitchell, Dr. John 
Oordon, Dr. John Fergusson, and others — ^lie with their 
patients in the Churchyard, subject to the same irrevocable 
doom. The last named of these medical gentlemen, who died 
6th July 1774 (age not stated), sleeps obscurely beneath an 
£uijoining thrugh, the lettering on which has been cut by some 
incompetent or careless hand. He is specified as " a curgeon," 
and as " a worthy honest man, without show or ostentation ;" 
as '^ diligent and cautiaus in his profession.'' Then an idea 
about his devoted attention to humble folks vainly struggles 
to find fit expression in the following style : "A good friend 
too and niur unheard by the poor ;" after which it is stated 
that he "lived much esteemed and died greatly regreted." 
"Mrs. Doctor Ferguson," died 9th January 1800, aged about 
60, and their son John, died 7th July 1814, aged 36, are 
also commemorated by the monument, the inscription stating 
that " He was justly lamented by his Relatives and by all 
who knew him, his exemplary life was well worthy of 
imitation." 

Another professional gentleman, contemporary with some 
of the foregoing — Robert Boyd, "Writter" in Dumfries — 
lies below a thrugh-stone of a less humble grade. He died 
5th August 1727, aged 44. From the date of the Union 
till our own day the Burgh seems always to have had a 
plentiful proportion of lawyers in its population. Robert 
M^umie of Larglangley, Robert Edgar, Thomas Carlyle, 
James Gordon, James Smith, James Copland, and James 
Dickson were among the legal brethren of Mr. Boyd, whose 
names we have seen on old writs or tombstones, at a time 
when the inhabitants did not number more than 5000, if so 
many. 



220 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Standing beside the table tombstone of Agnes Edgar, we 
look direct west for a minute to catch a glimpse, as we do, of 
the Hospital in St. Michael Street, which comfortable retreat 
for decayed burgesses and orphans was brought into exist- 
ence by two brothers, of whom her husband was one. We 
cannot tell whether or not *' James Murhead, late Baylie of 
this Burgh,'* lies beside his spouse, as the inscription only 
mentions him in his married relationship to her; but if it 
could be found out by any means that the philanthropist was 
buried here or elsewhere in Dumfries, a stone erected to 
mark the hallowed spot would be a graceful, even though a 
tardy, tribute to his great worth. But, apart from this, the 
knowledge of his name and services will remain with us so 
long as the institution survives, which he and his brother- 
german, William Moorhead, established at an expense of 
;£711 10s 6d sterling — a large sum in those days, and which 
was subsequently swelled by a donation of .£300 from the 
Good Duke of Queensberry, and by smaller sums mortified 
for behoof of the poor. Agnes Edgar, who long predeceased 
her husband, " departed this life'' 6th of March 1705. On 
ihe stone we further read that ''Here also lyes William, 
David Bobert, and Bobert, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Bethea 
Murhead, children to the above-named James Murhead." 
The death of Stephen, the young son of James M'Caskie, is 
also recorded on the stone ; and an adjoining table-stone 
commemorates George M'Caskie, hat manufacturer, Dum- 
fries, died 18th July 1822, aged 41, and Elizabeth Balieff, 
his spouse. It may be safely inferred, we think, from these 
inscriptions, that the M'Caskies were closely related to the 
Moorheads ; the probable bond of connection between them 
being the marriage of James M'Caskie to the daughter of 
Bailie Moorhead. 

Near by rises a handsome he£ulstone in memory of John 
Lawson, merchant, Dumfries, died 6th June 1809, aged 40 ; 
Bebecca Grierson, his spouse; and of their son, Eobert 
Cairns Lawson, sometime of Liverpool, who fell a victim to 
fever in Maracaibo, South America, 1st August 1822, just 
when he had come of age. Of this young man it is stated : 



MEM0BIAJL8 OF ST. MICHAJBL's. 5221 

I 

**To talents for bannesi of the fint order he added «n honourable 
and well'CultiFAted nund. He wae beloved and respected by bis 
friends and acquaintances, and the remembrance of his worth will 
long be cherished and revered." 

Two other members of the meroantile dass lie below 
neighbouiing stones of the tabular form, one being Thomas 
Wallace, died 4th June 1750, aged 47. Neighbouring him 
in the grave lie his spouse, Agnes Mein ; their son, John 
Wallace, died 8th January 1613, aged 80, with Ann Kelly, 
his wife, and the children of the latter — three infants, and 
James, died at 24 ; also Agnes, a daughter of the merchant, 
wife of John Dodherty, tailor, died 22d December 1801, 
aged 28. 

The other merdiant referred to, who lived contemporary 
with John Lawson, is John Henderson, a shrewd, intelligent 
man of business, who became owner of Nunholm and other 
property near Barkerland, the former of which is now in the 
possession of his grand-nephew. Mr. Henderson, who wbb 
for many years an efficient member of St. Michael's Kirk- 
session, died 2l8t November 1809, aged 76. His wife,. Sarah 
Creighton, survived till 25th October 1815, when she died 
in her 85th year. 

Another table-stone marks the resting-place of David 
Williamson, draper, who, though he died 11th July, 1824, at 
the age of 58, was in business when Bums was yet alive, and 
sapplied the bard with his uniform as a volunteer. His 
spouse, Jane Louden, died so recently as 11th October 1853, 
aged 82. She was the niece of the celebrated adventurer 
Paul Jones, who aided the Americans in their War of 
Independence, and afterwards entered the Russian service, 
in which he rose to the rank of Bear- Admiral. , He was bom 
at Arbigland, Elirkbean, 6th July 1747, and died in Paris, 
18th July 1792. Many years afterwards his sister's daughter, 
Mrs. Williamson, succeeded through the influence of the 
American Government in obtaining the residue of her uncle's 
effects, amounting to about £700, after proving to the 
«itisfaction of the Paris officials that she was next of kin to 
Admiral Paul Jones. Mrs. Williamson will be remembered 
by many of our older readers as tenant of the Commercial 



222 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL^S. 

Hotel, Dumfries. She bore a large family to Mr. WiUiamsoii, 
the whole of them, we believe, being mentioned in the 
inscription ; four infants, Helen died at 7, Jane at 11, 
Margaret at 12, John at 16 ; three, ^^ James, David, and 
Samuel, who died in India," Bobina died at 46, and Elizabeth 
at 68. John Williamson, named above, was a remarkable 
boy. Somewhat wayward when in health, he, during his 
last illness, manifested such spirituality of mind and ecstatic 
faith and hope while about to pass away from earth, that a 
memoir of him, written jointly by Mr. John M'Diarmid and 
the Rev. William Symington of Stranraer, was published 
soon after his death, 29th December, 1826, which made a 
great impression in local circles at the time. 

Our attention is next turned to an imposing Gothic monu- 
ment raised in memory of John M'Ghie, surgeon. Royal Navy 
died 10th October 1832, aged 46, his wife, Elizabeth Martin 
and their daughters, Eleanora, who died at 14, and Elizabeth 
Mary at 50. Two table-stones, of a homelier but interesting 
character, rise beside it, above anterior members of the family 
— one of whom figured for a day in a local episode of the '45. 
This was William M'Ghie, painter, an enthusiastic Jacobite, 
who, when the Pretender occupied Dumfries, went down to- 
wards Carlisle to watch the movements of the Duke of Cumber- 
land, who had laid siege to the Border city. He set off for that 
purpose on Sabbath, the 22d of December, and while taking 
supper at a hostlery in Annan a practical humourist, who 
suspected the object of his mission, startled him with the 
unfounded tidings that the Royal Duke had captured Carlisle, 
and was hurrying on at full speed with the view of securing 
I a much greater prize, Bonnie Charlie himself. Mr. M'Ghie at 
once took horse northward, never halting for a moment till 
he had, at a private audience of the Prince, held in what is 
now No. 7 of the Commercial Hotel, narrated the terrible 
though fictitious tale. Acting upon it the rebels left Dum- 
fries before sunrise next day, in the full belief that Cumber- 
land was following rapidly on their trail with a superior 
force. The people of the Burgh were certainly obliged to 
Painter M'Ghie, as he was popularly termed, for being the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 223 

unwitting cause of delivering them so soon from tbeir un- 
welcome visitors. He is stated by the inscription to have 
died 28th February 1768, aged 67, Mary Gordon, his si^ouse, 
being also named in it, and two daughters. The monument 
appears to have been erected chiefly in memory of his son, 
"William M'Ghie, painter and glazier, who was for awhile 
Chief of the Trades, of the latter's wife, Catherine Mackenzie, 
and their son James, assistant surgeon, 20th Eegiment Bengal 
Native Infantry, who died at sea 10th January 1810, aged 
37, wljen on his way to the home he never saw again. 
Convener M'Ghie died 3d December 1802, aged 72. In 
Mayne's Siller Gun "Johnny Gas/' describing the Trades' 
procession, says : 

" See, too, enarm'd wi' sword and spear, 
M'Ghee our ain town's bairn draws near ; 
Sirs, when the Highlanders were here, 

In Forty-five, 
His father gart them fiee for fear. 
And skulk belyve." 

Reverting to John M'Ghie, surgeon (son of the Convener), 
we may state that, like Dr. M^Cracken, he was attacked by 
cholera when attending professionally to other sufferers from 
it, and was fatally wounded by the arrows of the pestilence, 
dying as much a martyred hero as the leader of a forlorn 
hope who falls lifeless " i* the imminent deadly breach." 

The name of Robert Riddick of Corbieton has already 
been introduced by us in connection with the singular dream 
of his wife, who during the night watches saw the unknown 
military surgeon who (as proved to be the case) was destined 
to save her life. Laid low at length by the irresistible shaft 
of death, she sleeps beside her husbaud in a neighbouring 
compartment. He died 16th June 1777, aged 46 ; while 
she, Margaret Duke by name, long outliving him, died 8th 
January 1801, aged 79. They had an adventurous family^ 
many of them going abroad ; their names appearing on the 
monument, but " their graves are scattered far and wide, by 
mount and stream and sea." Their eldest bom. Captain 
William Riddick, of the 22d Foot Regiment, lies in the island 
of St. Domingo, aged 33 ; Nathaniel, their second son, died in 



224 MBMOKIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Africa when only 21 ; their third son, Robert, died in 
Hindostan, aged 29 ; and John, their fourth, also breathed 
his last in Africa. Their fifth son, Alexander, remaining at 
home, became a prosperous wine merchant in Dumfries. 
He died 3d December 1831, aged 59, '^much regretted" 
(says the inscription) ''by a numerous and respectable ac- 
quaintance." One of their daughters, Mary, died at 18; 
another, who was married to William Lawson of Girthead, 
died 4th December 1841, aged 79. 

Among the monuments in this section there is none so 
imposing as the one next arrived at, a noble pyramid raised 
in memory of Hugh Lawson of Girthead. It was built, we 
believe, from a design supplied by Mr. Thomas Boyd, the 
architect of the New Bridge of Dumfries. It is in fine con- 
dition, having been carefully repaired some years ago by Mr. 
Watson. A cavity in the square massive base of the edifice 
displays an urn of classical shape nearly iu full relief ; above 
stands an inscribed tablet, bearing thes^ words and dates, 
**To the memory of Hugh Lawson of Girthead, who died 
September viii., mdcclxxi., aged Ixiii years." Nothing is 
said regarding the character of the deceased, but a medallion 
portrait of him in profile is placed over the inscription to 
shev what manner of man he was ; and if it be a faithful 
likeness, the laird of Girthead must have been a shrewd, 
sensible, thrifty, yet kindly and social person. A festooned 
scarf falls gracefully over the mask ; a dog in demi, with the 
legend " Quod honesti moutile," holding watch over all. The 
west face of the tablet commemorates his eldest son, William 
Lawson, also of Girthead, the husband oi Margaret Biddick, 
as recorded on an adjacent stone. He died in 1819, aged 67. 
On the east side appears the name of a granddaughter of 
Hugh Lawson, daughter, we presume, of William, with the 
date of her death, 27th November 1857, and age, 72. 

Along the same line as the foregoing we see a neat monu- 
ment in memory of another worthy merchant, James 
Fergusson, died 11th November 1848, aged 41, of his wife, 
Isabella Crosthwaite, and two of their children, John 
who died at 7, and Helen at 12, An inscription on the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 225 

lower part of the stone records the names of four grand- 
children^ sons of Alexander Lorimer, builder, all of whom 
died young. 

" Here lyes the body of Mr. Thomas Eome of Cludan, dyed 
25th of Dec. 1710." So we read on a neighbouring stone 
that wears a very humble aspect as compared with the 
position occupied by the deceased as an opulent landed pro- 
prietor and, also if we mistake not, as Provost of Dumfries. 
Mr. Home's age is not recorded, and there is a long Latin 
epitaph below his name which could not have been more 
difficult to trace if it had been submerged for a while in the 
waters of Leth6. The Eomes were an old A nnandale family, 
some of whom settled in Kithsdale more than three hundred 
years ago. Dalswinton Holm, owned at one time by the 
Red Comyn, and whose praise at a later day was sung by 
Allan Cunningham, belonged to them early in the seven- 
teenth century, and at a subsequent period they acquired 
the lands of Oludan. When the ebony staff was relinquished 
by William Craik, first Provost of Dumfries after the Revo- 
lution Settlement, it was conferred on Thomas Rome of 
Cludan in 1691, and he had a second "reign" of three years 
in 1704-5-6. As the dates and designation harmonise with 
the words we have quoted, it seems certain that the dust of 
Provost Rome occupies this neglected spot, below a stone 
that can never have been in the least degree imposing, and 
whose precious memorial inscription is now all but obliter- 
ated. For several years the Burgh's official prop and pride, 
the very monument that was meant to perpetuate his services 
has fallen from its supports and threatens to become a total 
wreck ! 

Already in this section we have visited the resting places 
of thirteen conveners and deacons. The grave of Robert 
Maxwell, coppersmith, now reached, adds another to the 
list When the Trades met, 6th June 1783, to compete for 
the Silver Gun, they were presided over by Convener 
• MaxwelL He died 10th June 1805, aged 79. His spouse, 
Jean Hannah, lies in the same layer, both commemorated by 
a table-stone, overlooking which rises a stately monument, 

O 



226 liBMOBIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

" Sacred to the memory of A^nes Mazvrell, widow of the Bev. 
Patrick Maxwell of Monkland, she died the 25th January 1831, and 
of Jean Maxwell, who died 5th October 1834. They died advanced 
in years, and were daughters of Robert Mi^well, Conyeaer of the 
Trades." 

The place in the grounds, once occupied by the Collision 
Coplands of the Beveuteenth century, has already been noticed; 
and we now reach a spot where some of their successors lie — 
a square enclosure containing a very handsome modem 
monument of granite, bearing the famUy crest, and dedicated 
to the memory of William Copland of Colliston, who died 
at Blackwood (Keir), 7th September 1851, aged 43 ; William, 
his eldest son, a gentleman of rare worth, who was cut 
off at the early age of 30, on 8th April 1870 ; another 
son, Charles, who saw only five summers ; and a (laughter, 
Harriet, who died in infancy. This structure, which is of a 
material that will last till the crack of doom, overlook^ two 
sandstone thrughs that' are beginning to look old though 
their dates are not remote. One bears to have been erected 
by Catherine, daughter of Alexander Copland of Colliston, 
second wife of John Hamilton of Aldershaw, in memory of 
Ann, her only child, died 30th May 17d8, aged 14, and of 
whom it is said : " Early, bright, transient, chaste as morn- 
ing dew, she sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven." 
Other inscriptions follow to commemorate the said John 
Hamilton, died in March 1813, aged 79 ; his wife Catherine ; 
and his first wife, Ann Craik ; also his daughter Grace, by 
her, who died in 1846, at the venerable age of 82. Alexander 
Copland of Blingsgrange is commemorated by the second slab. 
He died 16th April 1801, aged 57, "after an active and 
useful life spent in discharging the duties of the medical 
profession in this place." 

Of yet another Trade dignitary we obtain trace on a 
neighbouring stone, also tabular in form, bearing the name 
Anne Fergusson, wife of Deacon James M^Eall, died 10th 
June 1803, aged 32. Below the words " In memory of " a 
blank is left, which ought to have been filled up probably 
with his own name. The inscription specifies the name of 
his son Bobert, died at Concord, Island of Tobago, in 1821, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 227 

aged 31, " much regretted by all who knew him ;" also the 
names of Deacon M'Kill's second wife, Margaret Thomson, 
died 13th October 1832, aged 70, and six of his children, all 
of whom died young. 

The name of a worthy tradesman appears on the adjoining 
table tombstone — Greorge Thomson, at one time Deacon of 
the Tailors, died 5th October 1832, aged 55 ; also those 
of his spouse, Mary Lookup, and five of their children, in- 
cluding Bobert who died at 7, and John at 35. And a 
similar stone, next to it, is sacred to the memory of their 
daughter-in-law, Jane Mason, wife of our respected towns- 
man, Mr. George Thomson, clothier, died 5th May 1837, 
aged 27. 

Notice has already been taken of the monuments which 
commemorate William Hood, nurseryman, who died at 65, 
and his son, of the same name and occupation, who died at 
30. The younger William Hood of Hollybush, Mary his 
wife, their son Thomas, died at 18, and their daughter 
Elizabeth, wife of George Simpson, died in Glasgow at 26, 
lie in this section. Beside the imposing structui'e which 
bears their names, rises an altar-stone which enables us to 
trace the parent stock of the family : John Hood, died 8th 
March 1804, aged 84, and Mary M'Cartney, his spouse ; 
together with additional branches : Thomas, their son, died 
30th October 1810, aged 59, with his wife Agnes Eoberts, 
and their son John, who died in childhood. 

A venerable slab marks the spot where lies Herries 
M'Whan, gardener, died 26th June 1788, aged 34 : " Upon 
which mournful event," says the inscription, " his widow was 
deprived of a valuable husband, his children of an affection- 
ate parent, and society of a useful member. He died most 
justly lamented by all who knew him." It is quaintly added, 
" at his right hand " — ^the hand that has long since lost its 
cunning — " lyes 4 sons and 3 daughters " — the olive branches 
whose growth was arrested soon after the overthrow of the 
parent stem, to the additional grief doubtless of the widow, 
who surviving all her bereavements gave vent to her sorrow 
in the words which we have quoted. 



228 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

In virtue of acts passed by the Dumfries Council, 9th 
October 1594, the Incorporated Fleshers of the Burgh 
acquired a monopoly of the meat trade, except on market- 
days, when beef and mutton might be offered for sale by 
other butchers. This exclusive system was still in full force 
when Fergus Rae, whose name we find on a flat thrugh, fed 
his own nolt and sheep that he might be able to supply 
savoury " flesches " for the tables of the lieges. He died 6th 
September, 1797, aged 75. The stone was raised in memory 
also of his spouse, Jane Jackson (sister of Provost Jackson), 
"by their affectionate son, James Rae, merchant," and, 
according to the inscription, "they were both esteemed in 
life, and at death regretted." Catherine Barkiss, second wife 
of Fergus Eae, is also commemorated by the monument ; the 
memory of his son being preserved by an adjoining altar- 
stone, the lettering on which represents him as " James Rae, 
Esquire of Park, merchant and banker," died 27th December 
1815, aged 57. The names of Janet M'Kune, wife of his 
nephew John Rae, and of their three children, also appear 
in the inscription. February 1830 proved a singularly fatal 
period for the family, the whole of the offspring, John, 
Janet, and David, having been laid low, by fever probably, 
during that month. 

A table-stone near by bears the following inscription, the 
poetical portion of which contrasts pathetically the gifts and 
graces of the person commemorated with the brevity of his 
existence : 

" In memory of Mr. John SandilandB, minister of the (Gospel at 
Sanquhar, esteemed in life and lamented at death by all who knew 
him. Ordained April 1738, and died suddenly at Dumfries August 
28, 1741, aged 29 years." 

'^0 just beheld, & lost ; admirM, & moum'd ; 
With lovely imiiues, charming arts adorned. 

Mr. Sandilands was killed by a fall from his horse. 

Farther south we notice tJie resting-place of two respected 
Crispinites, one of them being Peter or Patrick Henderson, 
who spent his latter days at the seat of his son-in-law, Mr. 
Fergusson of Westwood, near Reigate, Surrey, where he died 
3d January 1872, at the patriarchal age of 87. In the same 



U£MORIALS OF ST. MICHAEl's. 229 

place lie his ^ife, Elizabeth AitkeD, and their daughter Grace, 
died at 21. One of their sons, John, acquired much repute as 
an architect at Liverpool, but was cut off in his early prime. 
Another son, James, who also crossed the Border, settled 
down at Nottingham, and is one of numerous Dumfriesians 
who have met with business success south of the Sark. 
The other grave is that of Peter Henderson's brother 
James, who, though many years in business for himself, stuck 
to his last nearly as long as life endured, turning out some of 
the finest workmanship at the age of fourscore. The worthy 
veteran died 29th April 1876 when in his 82d year. Separ- 
ated from these brothers by more than two centuries we find 
'* William Henriesoh, frieman in Drumfries,." entered on the 
oldest existing list of Incorporated Shoemakers ; and down 
till the present day the trade has always numbered many 
others of the name. 

James Blount, for some time a respectable farmer in Bose- 
hall, lies below a neat table-stone, died 5th November 1816, 
aged 60 ; also his spouse, Minnie Kissock ; George Blount, 
spirit merchant, their son, died 14th May 1833, aged 27 ; 
another son, Bobert Blount, surgeon, died at Jamaica, July 
23, aged 25 ; and Samuel, cousin to the above, son of Lieu- 
tenant David Blount, who died in Jamaica, September 1828, 
aged 34. 

Long before the date of penny newspapers or cheap peri- 
odicals of any kind literary wares were traded in on a large 
scale by John Sinclair. His spacious premises on the Plain- 
stones were a favourite resort of the County squires, who 
found in the worthy bibliopolist a suave companion as well 
as a pleasant man of business. Mr. Sinclair was a member 
of the Town Council and of the Magisterial Bench ; and he 
long ably officiated as chairman of the Parochial Board. He 
lies buried in the compartment next arrived at, a stately 
monument rising to his memory and that of his wife Helen 
Douglas. He died 16th February 1855, aged 72. 

Nine members of the Knockgray family receive com- 
memoration from the next monument, which is a magnificent 
one^ as befits their high position. The Kennedys of Knock- 



230 XKMOKIAIS OF ST. MICHASL's. 



gray daim to be deacended frcfm the old Celtic thanes who 
roled orer Cstnieky when thai district f onned a portion of 
GraUowaj. Knodcgray, in the Stewartiyy was porchased by 
the "Rev. Alexander Kennedy, minister of Straiton, born 
1663, and the name of his great-great-granddaoghter ap- 
pears first npon the monument, its chief marble tablet 
bearing the following record : 

" In memory of Aim Kennedy, eldest danght^ of the late Alex- 
ander Kennedy, Bsq. of Knocdrgray, and wife to John Clark of 
Nnnland, who died lY. March, mdccxcy., ased XLi. ; and of the above 
John Clark, Eaqr,, also interred here, who died 30th June 1813, 
aged 63 years." 

On the plinth, and separated from the foregoing inscription 
by a piece of beantifol carved work, we read : 

"This tablet is erected to the memory of Mary Kennedy of 
Knockgray, second daughter of the above named Alexander Ken- 
nedy. She died at Domfries the 13th day of Nov., 1835, in the 76th 
year of her age." 

Two mural erections dose in the compartment on each side, 
both of which have been tnmed to a memorial pufpose ; one 
of them, on the east, bearing the following words : 

''In memory of Christiana, third daughter of John Clark* 
Esq. of Nunland, who died at Dumfries 29th April 1783, aged 80 
years; and of Archibcdd John, infant son of Colonel Alexr. 
Kennedy Clark Kennedy. H.M. Madras Staff Corps; and Harriet, 
his wife, who died at Kamptee, East Indies, on the. 16th day of 
June 1845. And Frederick John, third son of the above, who died 
at Wallace Hall, Closebum, on the 25th Jime 1853, aged 6 years. 
His remains are interred in this spot." 

The western wall tablet is thus inscribed : 

"In memory of Lieutenant-General Sir Alexr. Kennedy Clark 
Kennedy, K.C.B., K.H. of Knockgray, who died in London on the 
30th day of January 1864, aged 81 years. His remains are in- 
terred in this spot. Also, of Harriet Rebekah, wife of the above, 
who died at Cheltenham, aged 74 years ; Harriet Sarah, their eldest 
daughter, who died at Cheltenham, aged 36 years ; and Charlotte 
Anne, their youngest daughter, who died at Darsham, Suffolk, aged 
88 years." 

Come of a valiant race, the deceased Lieutenant-Greneral (son 

of John Clark of Nunland) was " bravest of the brave." He 

led the centre squadron of the Royal Dragoons into the 

thickest of the conflict at Waterloo^ and when charging the 

105th Regiment of French Infantry, captured its colours and 

eagle with his own hand. He was the father of Colonel 

Clark Kennedy, who contested the Dumfries Burghs with 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 231 

Mr. William Ewart eleven years ago. He died in Egypt, 
when on his way to join the Abyssinian expedition, and his 
remains were laid in the new ground of St Michael's, which 
we have yet to visit. 

Near the Knockgray monument a handsome four-sided 
pillar hears upon it names that were closely associated with 
the Episcopalian congregation of Dumfries at an early date. 
About the close of last century, when a mere handful, oc- 
cupying a small chapel in English Street, they were mini- 
stered to by a clergyman whose epitaph appears as follows 
on the north side of the monument : 

"In memory bf the Bevd. William Babington, D.D., of Trinity 
College, DubUn, for 46 years minister of St. Mary's Episcopal Chapel 
here, who died April 4th 1818, aged 72 ; also of Janet his wife, 
daughter of Charles Maitland, Esqr. of Eccles, who died May Ist 
1814, aged 66 ; also of Mary, their daughter, born June 16th 1780, 
died June 16th 1826." 

Dr. Babington's wife belonged to one of the oldest of our 
County families, and it will be seen from the following in- 
scription, which is on the east side, that his son had for 
father-in-law the greatest burghal magnate of his day. Pro- 
vost Staig : 

"In memory of the Kevd. Charles Maitland Babington, M.A., of 
!^aliol College, Oxford [founded by Devorgilla], Bector of Peterstow, 
Herefordshiie, and for 22 years minister of St. Mary's Episcopal 
Chapel here, second son of the Bey. William Babington, D.D., bom 
May 4th 1775, died August 5 1841. Also of lilias his wife, daughter 
of David Staig, Esq., bom March 26th 1778, died April 20th 1827." 

The west tablet is dedicated to "John Babington, Esquire, 
for many years in the Madras Civil Service," died 22d April 
1852, aged 66, and two of his children, Anne Amelia, aged 
30, and A. Melville, aged 21, by his wife Eliza. 

On a large plain block we read '' The Burial Place of Mr. 
James Dickson, late sheriff-derk, and his family, 1776 f 
these words being unaccompanied by any information re- 
specting the members of the household who sleep below. 




SECOND INTERIOR SECTION — CONTINUED. 

TILL proceeding eastward, we reach the narrow cabins 
oocapied by numerous masons and carpenters, who, 
when alive, helped to build that part of Dumfries 
which rose up between the time of the Jacobite occupa- 
tion and the first twenty years of the current century. Li 
the records of that period such names as Frew, Tweddle or 
Waddell, Harley, Mein, Aitken, Watson, Samson, and 
Crombie, frequently occur in connection with building opera- 
tions, and we also find them occasionally on the tombstones 
of St. Michaers. A tabular monument in this section rises 
above Andrew Watson, Deacon of the Squaremen, died 2l8t 
October 1*793, aged 65 ; Mary Scott, his spouse ; Francis 
Watson, joiner, their son, died 15th April 1825, aged 59; 
and bears the names of other children, as follows : Andrew, 
died at 23, Ann at 26, George at 38, and James at 40, Catherine 
an infant, ind "Jean, Charlotte, Mary, Thomas, William, 
Catherine, and Wilhelmina, who died all in man and woman- 
hood." An adjoining stone, of the same shape, commemorates 
some of their connections, among others Jean Watson, spouse 
of James Aitken, joiner, died 22d July 1*780, aged 21 ; an 
infant son ; together with Catherine M'Millan, spouse of 
William Watson, joiner, died 12th November 1822, aged 33; 
and five children, including Mary, who died at 17. Under 
natural mourning weeds supplied by a sombre yew tree, rises 
a neat memorial crosslet, dedicated to Jessie, infant daughter 
of William Aitken of the Southern Club. The above Deacon 
Watson was a native of Perth. When working as a joiner 
in Edinburgh, he was engaged by the Duke of Queensbeny 
to erect Tinwald House, which he did, both mason-work, 
and carpentry. He was thus led to settle in Dumfries, and 
his descendants to the fourth generation have pursued the 
mason trade in this Burgh. James, one of his sons, was 
factor to Lord Dundas, and lies buried away from his kin- 
dred in Kirkwall Cathedral, Orkney. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 233 

Beneath a series of three chain-surrounded altar-stones^ 
lie several of the Waddell family. The name of '^ Thomas 
Boyd, Esq., architect/' who married Jane Waddell, appears 
with her's in one of the inscriptions ; as does that of 
their daughter Catherine, died at Nellfield, Burntisland, 
4th April 1872. It was from his design, as previously men- 
tioned, that the handsome New Bridge which spans the 
Nith at Dumfries was erected in 1791-4 by Mr. William 
Stewart, builder. Mr. Boyd was a man of great professional 
talent, and while only an ordinary stone is dedicated to his 
memory we can see in this realm of the dead and in the 
Bui^h outside unmistakable tokens of his architectural taste 
and skill. He died 23d September 1822, aged 69. 

On the second stone appear the names of William Waddell, 
mason, died 3d April 1781, aged 69 ; of Jean Butter, his 
spouse ; and of several of their offspring, including Peter 
Waddell, who died in Jamaica, aged 29, and Elizabeth, 
Catherine, and Janet, whose ages are not specified. The 
third bears some rough antique carving in high relief, 
grotesque representations of five cherub faces, typical of 
John, Elizabeth, Mary, Bobert, and John, the children of 
James and Sarah Waddell, whose tiny " earthly tabernacles '^ 
moulder below, waiting there to be set up anew. Then 
follow the sacred words, " Suffer little chOdren to come unto 
me. Luk 17, v. 16." An additional inscription states that 
'' Here lyes James Waddell, late Deacon of the Squaremen, 
who died 24th March 1761, aged 76 years f also his second 
wife, Elizabeth Bobinson." 

It may be as well for us to explain that the incorpora- 
tion over which Deacon Waddell presided included glaziers, 
(Cabinetmakers, coopers, and slaters, as well as masons and 
carpenters — ^all craftsmen, in fact, who used the square. In 
his day they numbered about 220 masters, journeymen, and 
apprentices. Near where he Hes we see two headstones — 
one commemorative of John Carruthers, joiner, died 16th 
December 1823, aged 79, Anne Haining, his spouse, their 
offspring, Thomas died in Jamaica at 23, Janet at 45, Jane at 
79, and seven infant children ; the other bearing the names of 



1 



234 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

John Haddon, joiner, Maxwelltown, died 11th January 
1837, aged 67, Sarah Carson, his spouse, and three of their 
children, two of whom were infants, and the third was 
Eobert Haddon, artist, who was cut off just after reach- 
ing his majority, 28th February 1842. 

Farther east and north lie other representatives of the 
building trades : Thomas M'Keand, joiner, died 12th April 
1829, aged 70, with ''Mrs. Jean Batt," his spouse; James 
Mein, mason, died 9th September 1710, aged 33, with Agnes 
M'Neill his wife, and John Gillespie, died 16th December 
1787, aged 83 ; James Groldie, bricklayer, died 3d June 
1803, aged 67, with Janet Blackstock, his spouse ; and 
Kinloch Winlaw, house carpenter, who, as chief of the 
Incorporated Seven, led them to the field of a bloodless con- 
test to compete for King James's trophy, 4th June 1802. 
Convener Winlaw died 21st May 1820, aged 67 ; his wife, 
Agnes Corson, lies beside him. For three generations the 
slating trade of Dumfries has been largely in the hands of 
Thomas Briggs or Bridges and his descendants, though at 
the time when he flourished all the secondary streets of the 
Burgh shewed an unvarying covering of thatch. He died 
10th June 1810, aged 44 : on the slab which commemorates 
him appear also the names of his wife, Margaret Wilson ; of 
Thomas, their son, died at 31 ; and of Agnes, their grand- 
daughter, died at 17. A neat erection of Gothic design rises 
in memory of another son, John Bridges, slate merchant, who 
died " much regretted," 7th May 1856, at the a^e of 72 ; the 
name of his son James, who died at 23, appearing in the 
inscription, and that of Agnes, his daughter, being repeated 
upon it. 

Bobert Biggar, mason, died 14th January 1798, aged 48, 
and his wife, Isabella M'Whir, are commemorated by 
another table monument ; which also bears the name of a 
skilful musician, John Christopher Muller, and their daugh- 
ter Mary, to whom he was married. Herr Muller came to 
Dumfries, we believe, as bandmaster of the local militia, 
and eventually set up his staff as a resident in the Burgh. 
The inscription states that he was bom at Gisparsleban, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEl's. 235 

Thuringia, and that he was '^ a professor of music/' He was 
much esteemed in the town of his adoption. Both he and 
his wife were cut off by cholera in September 1832. 

On other tables or headstoDes we read of John Thomson, 
skinner, died 8th September 1770, with Agnes Kerr his wife, 
and several youthful children : of David Smith, died in 
August 1795, aged 65, with Sarah Eichardson his wife ; of 
William Brown, a Sanquhar weaver, who died in Dumfries 
16th February 1857, aged 42 ; of Archibald Smith, also a 
weaver, died 4th October 1871, aged 82, with Sarah Menzies 
his spouse, and Janet, their daughter, relict of the above 
William Brown ; of another " knight of the loom,'* John 
Jackson, died 10th April 1792, aged 39, and three of his 
juvenile progeny ; and of two youthful children, the issue of 
William Cresbie, painter, and Janet Grierson his spouse. 

Of last century publicans we find few records in the 
Churchyard. The incidents of Mayne's " Siller Gun "* 
occurred in 1777 ; and he represents the sweating marchers 
to the competition as longing for " ale that reams frae Jeuny 
Gass's," who at the above date " kept a noted public-house 
in Dumfries, much frequented by respectable people, and 
famed for a sort of ale called two-penny, agreeable to the 
taste, very brisk, and intoxicating." She was sister of John 
Gas, the famous barber, and no doubt lies likewise in the 
Cemetery, though the precise spot is now unknown. The 
oldest names among them as yet met with are those of 
Richard Miller, died 7th February 1781, aged 60, whose 
spouse, Elizabeth Martin, rests with him below the table- 
atone erected to their memory ; and of James Cuthbart, 
died 19th February 1784, aged 74, to whom and his 
wives, Mary Earkpatrick and Isobel Anderson, a similar 
monument is devoted. Among their chief contemporaries 
in the same business were John Beck, William Jardine, 
James Swan, Thomas Davidson, and John Ewart, whose 
united loans for the tribute money of £2000 sterling, 
exacted by the Pretender in 1745, amounted to £14 8s. In 
the middle of the seventeenth century the King's Arms or 
Commercial of that day was kept by Mrs. M'Kill, whose 



236 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

hoase was so much frequented by the public authorities that 
she might have put upon her sign-board, and probably did 
so, " Patronised by the Provost, Bailies, and Town CoundL" 
Soon after the death of Bichard Miller, Robert Fergusson, 
the Scottish poet, paid a rambling visit to Dumfries for the 
purpose of seeing ''a bosom cronie," named Charles Salmon, 
who was employed in Mr. Jackson's printing office ; and he 
would no doubt " forgather " with his brother bard, John 
Mayne, who at this time also wrought as a compositor in the 
same establishment. From " Yerses " written by Fergusson 
upon the occasion, it appears that he and his friend patronised 
the existing hostelries only too liberally. He particularly 
speaks of ^' the Marshals and Busbys," from the latter of whom 
sprang the Bushby of Burns's verse, as the great dispensers 
of " barley bree " at that period in the Burgh, and was so 
pleased with his trip that he longed for " some orra pence, 
mair sillar, and a wee mair sense," that he might be able to 
** bide a' simmer." Soon afterwards, alas ; the unfortunate 
poet had to exchange all scenes of revelry, mirth, and beauty 
for a bed " in that dark inn, the grave." 

Ale was the national drink for many a century before aqua 
vitae came into use ; and the custom was, for the maker of 
the drink to be the retailer of the same. When George Boyd, 
maltster, whose neat table-stone we now approach, began 
business, there would be somewhere about ninety others to 
compete with him in Dumfries as brewers or publicans ; and 
many a plack he would have to pay as his share of the two 
pennies Scots levied by the Town Council on every pint of 
ale brewed or vended in the Burgh, to defray the expense of 
building the New Church. Mr. Boyd died February 22d 
1752, aged 41. The names of his daughter Elizabeth, died at 
Liverpool, aged 73,v and of his son, WUliam Boyd of March- 
hill, died 14th March 1827, aged 79, appear upon the monu- 
ment, together with that of the latter's wife, Margaret 
MoflTat. 

Brandy was in considerable use when Dame M'Kill was the 
leading landlady; and at that time French wines were in 
great request by the upper-olass people who patronised her 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 237 

establishment. The supply of claret having run short in 
1661, the Town Council enjoined all the " vintners " of the 
Burgh to sell it at not more than five groats a pint. We 
sometimes light upon a monument with that term upon it in 
the singular form, but the dates are comparatively recent : of 
William Baxter, " late vintner," we read on a humble head- 
stone, who died 26th May 1818, at the age of 37. 

Powerful as the ploughshare of the husbandman and as 
the spade of the gardener are, they ai^e no match for the 
implements of the sexton. Eobert and Charles Barry, who, 
as farmers, turned over many acres in Nithsdale during the 
middle of the last century, lie near by, low as clods of the 
valley, the former dying 20th May 1770, the latter 18th April 
1798 (ages not legible); so lies also an octogenarian contempor- 
ary of theirs, Adam Black, gardener, cut down when fully ripe, 
4th March 1793 : his wife Mary, with four sons, garnered in 
beside him, Michael who died at 43, Adam at 50, Andrew at 
75, and James, also at 75. With the same branch of 
cultivation the name of Bogie has long been and still is 
associated in the Burgh. James Bogie, the friend of Bums, 
occupies, as we have already noticed, a plot not far from the 
Mausoleum, and several of his kindred lie near their profes- 
sional brother, Adam Black, beneath two table tombstones ; 
one in memory of James Bogie, gardener, died 12th January 
1793, aged 76, with Mary Grierson, his spouse ; the other 
commemorating Alexander Bogie, nurseryman (father of Mr. 
John Bogie, gardener), died 22d March 1847, aged 68, with 
Sarah Stewart his first wife, and Elizabeth Suel his second 
wife, and four of his children, " three Williams," and John, 
who died in infancy. 

But as we were reminded in the preceding chapter, the 
conquering sword of the soldier shares the same fate as the 
pruning hook of the husbandman. 

" Some men with svrords may reap the field, 
And plant fresh laurels where they kill : 
But their strong nerves at last must yield ; 
They tame but one another still : 
Early or late, 
They stoop to fate, 
^nd must give up their mui muring breath, 
When they, pale captives, creep to death." 



or 



TW cmUenw of soroieigiitT abo, as the poet just quoted teUs 
nSy beecoie tribotaij to the auiie leveDing decree : 
'^The^oocBof 




Most tnmhle down. 
And In the dut be eqoal flUfde 
With the poor crooked aefdMt and fpade.** 

Aod^ to qoote from another poem, Grajft Elegy: 

** The boast of benldzy, the pomp of power. 

And an that beanly, all that wealth e'er gave. 
Await alike the inevitable hour : 
The paUhs of f^ij lead but to the graTe." 

Jiere earthly wealth, fame, and power go for nothing in 
the end — 

" Only the actions of the just 
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.** 

We next arrive at a laige oblong enclosare, shaded hj 
biuhee of cjpreas at each comer, which have spread with 
such loxuriance as almost to hide the principal inscription 
from view. It is engraved on a bxmdsome monument that 
forms the west side of the compartment, and rons as follows : 

*' Sacred to the memorj of the Bevd. Thomas Tador Duncan, 
M.D„ minister of the New Church Parish, Domfries, who was or- 
dained minister of Applegarth, 12th April 1804; inducted to the 
New Church 27th Nov. 1806; and died 20th Feby. 1858, in the 54th 
year of his ministry and the 82nd year of his age. He was a man of 
very amiable and upright character, most afifecBonate and exemplary 
in ail the relations of Ufe. As a scholar he was highly accomplished ; 
as a Christian he was humble and sincere ; and in the work of the 
ministry f aithf oL ' Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, 
for the end of that man is peace.'— Ps. xxxvil, 37." 

Gentle, refined, warm-hearted, dutiful, and pious, Dr. 
Duncan's character is well depicted in these lines, as is that 
of his devoted partner in the followiug commemorative 
tribute : 

In memory ''also of Frances Brooks, his wife, who was bom at 
Everton Hall near Liverpool, 7th November, 1780, and after a life of 
earnest piety and benevolence, died suddenly at Moat House, in this 
parish, 28tb September, 1837. While in the act of reading the Holy 
Book, whence she derived her faith and life in Jesus Christ, her Lord 
and Saviour, she received the summons which called her away to that 
blessed state in which faith issues in vision and hope in fruition. 
' Bleased are the dead which die in the Lord.'— Rev. vii 15, 16, 17 ; 
Paraph, viii. 13." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHABL's. 239 

Dr. Duncan belonged to a family from whom not a few 
clergymen of note have sprung, the most distinguished of 
them being his brother Dr. Henry Duncan of lluthwell, the 
founder of Savings Banks. The present excellent parish 
minister of Torthorwald, the Bev. Joseph E. Duncan, is a 
son of the Dumfries divine. With the Duncans are closely 
allied the M'Murdos, a family who settled in the district 
more than three centuries ago ; from whom arose some of 
our early trading magnates ; who are connected by mar- 
riage with the Douglasses, Johnstones, Kirkpatricks, Char- 
terises, and others of the patrician order ; and of whose more 
modem representatives we had occasion to say something 
when noticing the tombstone of one of them as it appears in 
another portion of the Churchyard." 

To what extent the members of each are still associated in 
their last earthly abode is shewn by four venerable slabs 
which the Duncan monument overlooks through its veil of 
foliage^ and which give a memorial pavement to the enclos- 
ure ; the words on the oldest one taking us back to the days 
of the Covenant and the Persecution. During a large portion 
of that troublous period lived " James M'Murdie merchand 
Burges of Drumfrise," and when he " deceased the 6 day of 
June 1686,"* James VII. was still busy with his Bomauising 

* In April 1695 a Committee of Town Council, Heritors, and Kiik- 
Session resolved that all who held their seats in St. Michael's Church 
** by ancient possession without any act of Session or other written 
evidence " should hold them in future by Acts of Session, and " pay 
something" for their sittings to the poor — all sessional acts made 
since 1662 to be null and void. In consequence of this resolution 
there were numerous applicants for seats, the list of whom furnishes 
118 with the names of many merchants and others, the contemporaries 
of James M*Murdo, who, after holding church fellowship with him 
when in life, neighbour him in the grave. The list of merchants 
includes the following : Robert Richardson, William Richardson, 
James Veitch, ThomHS M*Bumie, James' M*JKitterick, John Camp- 
bell, Robert Munnell, William Martin, Herbert Dickson, Thomas 
Wright, John Crocket, David Houstine, James Veitch, Thomas 
Wright, Adam Henderson, John Shillington, Robert Grlessal, Andrew 
Croflbie, John Sharp, James Mulligan. William Irving, John Jack- 
son, Mathew Wigbtman, James Mitchell, William Hutchieson, John 
Herries, Thomas Lockhart, John Corbet, James Bishop, William 
Gillison, Hugh Hair, John Lawson, and Robert Barton. Applica- 
tion for sittings was made also in the same year (1695) by John 
Corsane of Milnhole, Mathew Hairstens of Craigs, John Kennan of 



240 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL*S. 

devices, the Bevolution which put an effectual check to them, 
and brought liberty of conscience to all, not having yet 
arrived. Locally, 1686 was a very memorable year, iuaamuch 
as by a Government edict the Burgh was prevented from 
choosing either councillors or magistrates, and in its closing 
month was, through the same despotic influence, induced to 
elect a Boman Catholic Provost, in the person of John 
Maxwell of Bamcleugh. A second inscription on the same 
stone recalls a happier era, when the Burgh was basking 
under the genial rule of John Crosbie of Holm : it com- 
memorates another of our mercantile fathers, in the words 
subjoined — " Also, here lyes James Hair, merchant in Dum- 
fries, who deceased the 23 day of November 1709 ; his age, 
61." The stone has a carved border displaying the usual 
emblems of mortality ; which with the antique lettering 
renders it an interesting archaeological study. 

Slab number two is of a more modern type. It is in 
memory of yet another Dumfries merchant, Bobert M'Murdo, 
died 3d July 1786, aged 39 ; of Ann Currie, his spouse, died 
21st June 1784, aged 29 ; and their son, William Dick, died 
at Liverpool 1st June 1828, aged 44. An additional inscrip- 
tion states that " the remains of Janet, relict of Joseph 
Brooks, Esq., late of Everton, near Liverpool," lie below. 
She died May 1828, in the 82d year of her age. " Blessed 

Thrievegrange, John Charteris of Bridgmoor, sheriff-depute and 
comimssary, William M*Gowii of Inglestun, John Irvinf of Drum- 
coltran, John M'Bumie, notaiy, Isobel Irvine, relict of the deceased 
Thomas Goldie, notary, Marion Maxwell, relict of the deceased Juhn 
Oorsaoe of Meiklenox, Helen and Jean Johnston, daughters of the 
late Provost Johnston, Martin Newal, late bailie, Gabriel Alison of 
Dunjop, late bailie, William Neilson, dean, William Carmont, treas- 
urer, il^aes Edgar^ representing the deceased Bailie Muirhead, 
Elizabetn M'Kitterick, relict of Stephen Irving, late bailie, John 
Maxwell, apothecary, John. Corbet, apothec:«ry, John Rule, apothe- 
cary, William Laurie, writer, John Maxwell, school doctor, heirs of 
Herbert Cunningham, writer, John Somerville, writer, George Rome, 
writer, John Lawsou of Holm, writer, John M*Naught, writer, 
Robert Johnston, postmaster, Andrew Hume, clerk of the Custom- 
Office, Jumes Miiligan, surveyor, Richard Paterson, farmer in 
Netherwood, and Robert WiDuie, bookbinder. ^ Many of these names 
are frequently found in old dociunents relating to the histoiy of 
Dumfries, and some of them appear in the memoiial records of the 
present volume. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. ^41 

are the dead who die in the Lord/' Besting upon ttiis slab 
there is a very small older stone^ which is thos insbribed : 
'^Here lyes Agnes M'Murday^ daughter of the late James 
M'Murday^ who deceased the 31st of Julay 1689^ of age 1 
year 10 month -P the following intimation being added in a 
less antique style : '^ George Henry Duncan, died December 
29, aged 6 months." 

On the third slab we thus read : 

"Under this hnmble stone lies all that could die of IrVilliam 
M'Murdo, merchant in Dumfries, and of his wife, Mary Blaoklock ; 
who, after having raised themselves in the admiration and affection 
of the wise and good a monument more precious than could be erected 
by human art, were called to heaven ; she on the 25th September 
1764, and he on the 4th April 1768. Of their numerous offspring the 
same grave contains the remains of four sons, John, William, Qeorge, 
and Thomas, who died in infancy, and four daughters, Qatherine, 
who died in April 1771, aged 15 ; Henrietta, who died in July 1775^ 
aged 21 ; Jean, who died in December 1787, aged 38 ; Susan, who 
died in Jtme 1810, aged 60 ; and near this spot their daughter Eliza- 
beth, who died 10th June 1826, aged 72." 

The genealogical record of the M'Murdos, and through 
them of the Duncans, is carried down through other ramifica> 
tions by the inscription on the fourth stone, which runs as 
follows : 

'*In memory of James Bickarby, late of Jamaica, merchant, who 
died 11th June 1798, in the 89th year of his age. 

As those we love decay, we die in part — 
String after string is severed from the heart, 
Till loosen'd life at last but breathing lay 
Without one pang, is glad to fall away. 

Under or near this stone lie the remains of Sarah McNeill, widow 
of James M'Murdo of Barbadoes, who died 29th January 1825 ; and 
their three daughters who died, Anna Maria in April 1809 ; Elizabeth 
Mary in November 1810 ; and Christian, 30th October 1824. Also of 
Ann Hoist, of that island [Barbadoes], who died 1810." 

A headstone within the same compartment commemorates 
" William, eldest son of William Eeynolds of Ketley, in the 
county of Salop, Esq.," who died at Dumfries, 26th May 
1807, before he had reached his seventeenth year, and when 
residing in Dr. Dimcan's family. It is stated that 

" Though far refiioved from home and his relations, he was not 
without the consolation, sympathy, and affection of hiends, to whom 
he was endeared by his engaging manners and suavity of temper ; the 
fair hopes of future excellence excited by his conduct " causm^ '* his^ 
early aefMuture to be most deeply lamented by aU who knew him.*' 



242 MBHORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

From the M'Murdo tree, drawn up by Mr. J. Campbell 
Gracie, genealogist, Dumfries, we learn that the family gave 
their name to the lands of Cubbington and Ferdinmakreiy, 
in the parish of Dunscore, charter to them having been 
granted by the Commendator of Melrose Abbey, to William 
M'Murdy and his heirs so far back as 25th July 1565 (the 
year, when Mary Queen of Scots married Lord Damley). 
John M'Murdo succeeded him. He had two sons — ^Robert, 
who died a bachelor ; and John, by whom the latter was 
succeeded 9th June 1620. From this John M'Murdo, second 
of the name on record, sprang the Dumfries members of the 
family, some of whose tombstones we hare just been noticing. 
James M'Murdo, John's eldest son, was the next chief of the 
house ; the second sou, named also John, entering the 
Church, and singular to say, becoming minister of Torthor- 
wald, the charge at present occupied by his great great- 
grandson, the Rev. J. R. Dimcan. He married first, Mary 
Muir of Cassencarry, and thus became connected with the 
Sharpes of Hoddam (whose magnificent family monument is 
described in a preceding chapter) ; and secondly, Alice 
Chaiteris, a member of the Amisfield family. He was father 
of Robert M'Murdo of Drungans, and it was a son of the 
latter who, when Chamberlain at Drumlanrig, was so credit- 
ably associated with the national bard. Both in prose and 
verse Bums, on various occasions, expressed his sense of the 
kind services rendered to him by John M^Murdo. Some- 
time in 1793 the poet inscribed the following lines on a 
window-pane of the Chamberlain's house : 

** Blest be M'Murdo to his latest day ! 
No envious cloud o'ercast his evenimg ray — 
No wrinkle farrow'd by the hand of care, 
Nor ever sorrow add one silver hair. 
O may no son the father's honour stain, 
Nor ever daughter give the mother pain." 

It is gratifjdng to think that Mr. M*Murdo was as happily 
situated with his children as his friend the Bard could 
desire. The Torthorwald minister had also for son the 
William M*Murdo, merchant, who is commemorated on the 
third slab. Anne, a daughter of William, bom 1745, by 



^ MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHA£L's. 243 

marrying in 1770 the Eev. George Duncan, Lochrutton 
(whose father was of the saipe. name, and minister of the 
flame parish), became the link of connection between the 
M'Murdos and Duncans. A journal kept by the elder 
C^orge Duncan regarding the Jacobite occupation of Dum- 
fries supplies some valuable information regaixiing that 
exciting incident in our local annals. George Duncan the 
younger was father of Dr. Thomas T. Duncan, whose epitaph 
is above quoted, and of Dr. Henry Duncan. William 
M'Murdo had for son Bobert, the Dumfries merchant, who 
is mentioned on the second slab, and Phillis his daughter 
was the spouse of James Bickarby, the Jamaica merchant, 
who is named on the fourth slab, while Sarah McNeill, who 
is also mentioned upon it, was married to another, of his sons, 
James, of Barbadoes. 

Partly overshadowed by the funereal evergreens of this 
compartment, stands an altar-stone, inscribed as follows : 

" In memory of Manr Bumie, spouse to James Paton, Master of 
the Hospital of Dumfries. She was a loving wife, an indulgent 
parent, and a humble Christian. She left tms mortal state, and 
winged her way into eternal day, upon the 25 day of Febr. 1792, in 
the 67 year of her a^^e. Also James and Ebenezer, their children. 
Also in memory of James Paton, her husband, who died much re- 
gretted the 3d day of April 1795, aged 63 years." 

Next to the Duncan monument rises a handsome one in 
memory of James Kerr, flesher in Dumfries, who died at 
Dovecot, 5th March, 1864, aged 58, and was interred in 
Knottyash Churchyard, near Liverpool ; of his youngest son 
James, died 13th October, 1861, aged 22, who lies buried in 
the same place ; his daughter Hannah, who died at a younger 
age, being also commemorated by the inscription. 

The family compartment of Mr. William Turner, shipowner, 
is next arrived at, the chief monument in which commemo- 
rates his wife, Bethia Brand Eiddick, died 2d June 1842, 
aged 27. On a slab within the enclosure, appear the names 
of her aunt, Mary Morison, spouse to John Biddick, merchant, 
died 11th February, 1793, and of three other members of the 
family who lie below : Mrs. Turner's father, Robert Biddick, 
tallow-chandler, proprietor also of a large soap-boiling estab- 
lishment, the only one in Dumfries, who died in 1821 ; Nancy 



244 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Brand, his wife, who died in the same year ; and their son 
John, who, soon after entering !;ipon the management of his 
father*8 business, was cut off at the early age of 18. We 
must not forget to add that Mr. Turner had the honour of 
being elected Provost of Dumfries in 1864, and that he dis- 
charged his official duties with fidelity and success. 

In an adjoining plot, that is rery tastefully kept, lies Ellen 
Eeid Nicholson, daughter of the late Provost Nicholson, and 
wife of our entei-prising townsman, Mr. David Sloan, coach- 
builder, died 17th Jime, 1870, aged 48 ; also three of their 
offspring, all of whom died young, nine summers only having- 
been seen by the eldest child, William. 

A worthy shipowner and blacksmith, William Smart, is 
commemorated by a very neat monument near by, which also 
bears the name of Mary Smart, his sister ; while a slab below 
records the names of other members of the family : John 
Smart, bookbinder, died 27th December 1805, aged 38 ; 
Margaret Boddon, his wife ; John Smart, shipowner, his son, 
died at 36 ; James, another son, died at 33, and two infant 
children ; William Boddon, cabinetmaker, father-in-law of the 
bookbinder, died 10th December 1809, aged 84, with Margaret 
Charters his spouse, and Margaret Smart, their grand- 
daughter, died at 34. 

Adjoining we see the family burial-ground of Archibald 
Blacklock, surgeon, with his name upon one of the two 
stones placed in the compartment, also the names of his 
spouse, Isabella Drinkwater, died 19th July 1865, aged 80, 
and his youthful daughter, Mary. The other stone com- 
memorates Mary, daughter of James Blacklock, Kirkpatrick- 
Juxta, died 2d July 1763, aged 30; John Blacklock, 
merchant, Dumfries, father of Dr. Blacklock, died 7th 
June 1806, aged 81 ; and the two wives of the former, 
Helen TumbuU and Mary Athey. Archibald Blacklock, 
surgeon, of the Eoyal Navy, died 6th January 1875, 
aged 84. He served abroad, on the other side of the 
Atlantic, while quite a youth, and was present at the siege 
of New Orleans and other conflicts of the war that was then 
raging. After the termination of hostilities, he withdrew 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. * 245 

from the Navy to settle down in his native place^ Dumfries, 
where he had an extensive practice, which he secured not 
less by his genial disposition and attractive manners than 
by his professional skilL When cholera visited the Burgh 
in 1832 his services were invaluable ; and it was chiefly at 
his instance that the Board of Health, of which he was a 
most efElcient member, were led to adopt a system of house- 
to-house visitation, in order to restrict the sweep of the 
epidemic. With the origin of the Crichton Institution for 
lunatics, and with some important experiments on the in- 
fluence of galvanism, the deceased was prominently associ- 
ated ; and the leading part taken by him in obtaining a cast 
of Bums's cranium for a phrenological purpose, with his 
report regarding it, is so generally known that we do not 
need to dilate upon this incident in his life. Dr. Blacklock 
had a well-stored mind, was full of anecdote, and nothing 
delighted him more than to indulge in reminiscences of other 
years, whether these related to his adventures abroad or the 
incidents and contemporaries of his maturer years at home — 
his great observing powers and retentive memory enabling 
him to reproduce the past with wonderful fidelity and effect, 
Amiable in private life, he acted an exemplary part in every 
domestic and social relationship. 

Quite recently an inscription has been engraved upon the 
first of these stones, below the names of Dr. and Mrs. 
Blacklock, in memory of their son as follows ; 

"Ambrose Blacklock, Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, 
H.M.I.S., son of the above, who died at Chittoor, 11th Feb. 1873, 
aged 56, whUe on a tour of inspection, and was interred there. By 
tbe unanimous desire of his brother medical officers, and in accord- 
ance with public feeling his remains were brought down to Madras, 
and were reinterred with every mark of respect, and amid many 
tokens of regret in the London Mission Cemetery at Pursewaukum 
<m the evening of Saturday, 22d Febnary, where a handsome 
memorial-stone was afterwards erected by his numerous friends." 

Dr. Ambrose Blacklock spent most of his days in India, 
where he held various professional appointments under the 
Grovemment, but before leaving Dumfries he published a 
valuable Treatise on Sheep, which passed through several 
editions. His literary attainments were of a superior order, 



846 xsnoRiALS OF ST. michael's. 

in other respects he was very accomplished, and he acquired 
merited fame as a physician. Among other medical theories- 
promulgated by him was one relating to small-pox and 
cholera. He held that persons who had suffered from the 
first of these diseases were rarely if ever attacked by the 
second : his experience in India, where he had attended 
thousands of cholera patients, led him to this conclusion, and 
he maintained his thesis with great ingenuity and skOl. Dr. 
Blacklock officiated in Madras Medical College, first as Pro- 
fessor of Surgery and then as Professor of Medicine during a 
period of sixteen years. At the time of his death he was 
Deputy Inspector-General of the Indian Medical Department,, 
and it was while making one of his periodical visitations as 
such that he was cut off by enteritis at Chittoor, when he 
had reached his 56th year. He was buried at Madras beside 
the remains of his wife, Mary Kemp, who had predeceased 
him. A memorial exists which embodies in a congenial sub- 
stance the '' golden opinions " entertained towards the gifted 
Professor by those who, next to his own family, knew him 
best. This is a magnificent gold medal bearing his portrait 
in relief on one side, and on the other the following words : 

'* Presented, with the sanction of Government, to the most deserv- 
ing clinical student of the Madras Medical College, l]y 89 subBcriberSr 
in grateful and affectionate memory of Ambrose Blacklock, Deputy 
Inspector-Greneral of Hospitals, Madras Medical Service, who died at 
Ohittoor on the 11th February 1873." 

The money subscribed for the memorial has been deposited 
with the Government, so as to secure a fresh medal being 
struck off annually for competition among the students. 

A gallant member of a good old Wigtownshire family has 

his name and deeds recorded on a graceful monument, which 

is thus inscribed : 

"Sacred to the memory of Major WilLLam Cannon, who died at 
Corberry Place on the 15m November 1861, aged 69 years, youngest 
son of the late John Cannon, Esq. of Balochan, Galloway. Major 
Cannon served with distinction in the Old 94th Begiment during 
the Peninsular War, from 1808 to 1818, for which he received the 
war medal and 7 clasps. He again served in the 97th Begiment, 
from 1824 to 1842, when he retired from the service." 

On an adjacent altar>stone we read the names of William 

P^ton, writer, died 1st September 1800^ aged 36, and his 



^ 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAKL's. 247 

Spouse^ Janet Caird, five of their children, including Andrew, 
who died at 34, and John, a baker, died Idth September 
1832, aged 67. Within an enclosure not far distant another 
member of the legal profession is mentioned on one of the 
two slabs hj which it is overlaid. The inscriptions conmiemo- 
rate Leonard Smith of Stopford, died 28th March 1802, his 
spouse, Henrietta Beveridge, with several of their children ; 
also John Smith, writer, Kirkcudbright, died at Gatehouse- 
of-Fleet, 28th June 1825, aged 75, and his daughter Jane, 
who died at Corberry. 

As already noticed, many leading '^ cordwainers '' lie in 
this section ; and we observe the name of another worthy 
brother of the craft, James M'Lellan, on a handsome table- 
stone near by. He died 31st May 1825, aged 60. The 
monument commemorates also Ann Young, his wife ; 
Henrietta, their daughter, who died at a youthful age ; their 
son, James, a bookseller, died 10th April 1839, aged 27 ; 
another son, Alexander William Young, collector of Inland 
Bevenue, Galway Collection, a most intelligent gentleman, 
who died at Galway, 17th January 1859, aged 54 ; and a 
third son, George, long an extensive baker and grain-dealer 
in Dumfries) who spent the autunm of his years at Noblehill 
Cottage, universally respected, and died there 22d September 
1873, aged 66, bequeathing a legacy of ;£1000 to the funds of 
Moorheads' Hospital. 




SECOND INTERIOR SECTION (CONTINUED). 

,N the early chapters of these Memorials^ relating mainly 
to an old class of monuments^ Latin inscriptions fre- 
quently occur ; but about seventy years ago the fashion 
changed ; as a proof of which we rarely light upon any 
epitaph in that language of a modem date. The only Latin 
one of the present century that we have yet seen appears 
upon a plain headstone in this section^ and runs thus : 

*' Nicholam filiam et Jacobum filium 

Gemmas pnlcherrimas 

Pmina intempestiva correptas 

Gill : Tennant 

Animo dolore fraeto 

At Dei fiduda inf racta 

Simul teme commisit 

Vn. Id : Decembris 1835. 

Beflorescent. 

Itenun Anno 1845 duos praeterea 

LiberoB cita morte ademptos : 

Denique Anno 1846 setatis 35° 

bene dilectam Nicholam M. Tennant matrem ' 

Pietate pudore et omnibus 

quae uxorem omant 

virtutibus eximie praeditam 

mserena maritaa 

in Sepulchro 

condidit.** 

This epitaph may be thus translated : 

Here rest the remains of Nicholas and James, two lovely bads 
nipt by death's untimely frost, children of William Tennant. Heart- 
broken by grief, but "with unshaken trust in God, he committed them 
to the dust together on the 7th of December 1835. 

They will bloom again. 

Also, two children who died suddenly in the year 1845. 

Here also, in the year 1846, in her 35th year, their much-loved 
mother, Nicholas M. Tennant, was interred by her sorrowing husband. 
She was richly endued with piety, modesty, and all the virtues that 
adorn a wife. 

Upon an oblong solid-looking block of older date^ which 
wears a dismal, neglected aspect, though jealously guarded 
by iron stanchions, appear the following classical inscrip- 
tions, which we had great difficulty in deciphering : — On 
the south side : 



MEMORIALS OF 8T. MICHAEL's. 249 

** Hie oondita jacent osaa Jacobi Mitchell hujoB 

Burgi Mercatoris et AgnessaB 

BodgerBon conjugis ipsius oilectissimse. 

Hie ad viridem senectutem perductus f atia cessit 

die tertio Aprilis anno 

MDCCXIX, 

nia provecta aetate obiit decimo ierido Jannarii 

anni ejiisdem 
nia prias moritur. Yidnam producere vitam 
Tentat adhue conjux. Vivere taedet. Obit/' 

In English : 

Here lie buried the ashes of James Mitchell, MerchaQt in this town, 
and of Agnes Bodgerson his beloved wife. Having attained a green 
old age, he departed this life on the 3d of April 1719 ; she died on 
the 13th of January in the same year, at an advanced age. 

She dies the earlier ; yet awhile he tries 
Life's lonely lot ; but soon, life-weary, dies. 

The inscription on the north side is : 

" Monument um hoc qualecumque pietatis ergo Bobertus Mitchell, 
M.D., filius Buperstes extrui curavit, decimo quarto lustro suae setatis, 
«rae Ohristianse mdcolxi." 

Translation : 

Their surviving son, Bobert Mitchell, M.D., erected this monu- 
ment, such as it is, as a tribute of affection, in the fourteenth lustre 
of his life {Le., between his 65th and 70th year), in the year of the 
Christian era, 1761." 

Almost invisible itself, an obscure slab, bearing the relics 
of an inscription, reminds as of a sightless man, who acquired 
no small distinction as a poet. Below that stone, situated 
near the tomb of Dr. Mitchell, lies the father of Dr. Thomas 
Blacklock, by whom it bears to have been " erected ;" and 
though it now lies flat upon the ground, and is much worn 
by the feet of passengers, it was no doubt furnished with 
suitable supports when set up at first. The epitaph, written 
by the blind poet, runs, as near as we can decipher, in the 
following style : 



(( 



Here lyes all that could perish of John Blacklock, bricklayer, 
bom in Cumberland, married at London, settled for a considerable 
time in Dumfries. Long pursued by dire misfortune, and at last, in 
an instant, he was received to the enjoyment of his Creator, a.d. 
MDOOXL. 

Here drop. Benevolence, thy cordial tear ! 
A friend of human kind reposes here ; 
A mind content itself and God to know ; 
A heart with ev'ry virtue form'd to glow ; 
A soul superior to each mean disguise ; 
Truth's sacred voice, and pity's melting eyes. 



290 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

Beneath each pressure nniformly great ; 
In life untainted, unsurprised by fate ; 
His God beheld his suffering wcnrth sincere, 
And bade it shine in Heaven, its genuine sphere I 

Erected by Thomas Blaoklock, his son, [Professor] of Philosophy." 

A version of the epitaph appears in Dr. Blacklock's published 

worksy^ which differs considerably from the lines just quoted. 

It is in the following terms : 

" Here drop. Benevolence, thy sacred tear : 
A friend of human kind reposes here ; 
A man content himself ana God to know ; 
A heart with every virtue form'd to glow ; 
Beneath each pressure uniformly great ; 
In life untainted, unsurprised by fate. 
Such, though obscured by various ills, he shone ; 
Consord his nemhbour^s woes, and bore his own. 
Heav'n saw, and snatch'd from f ortune^s rage its prey, 
To share the triumphs of eternal day." 

The subject of this affecting tribute was not unworthy of it, 
He resided for a while at Annan^ where in 1721 the futm^e 
poet was born ; and on the son losing his sight by small-pox, 
the father spent much time in reading and conrersiilg with 
him^ so that young Blacklock became at an early age well 
conversant with British literature ; and in his twelfth year 
he began that courtship of the muses which he prosecuted 
through life. Before he was quite nineteen the fatal acci' 
dent, caused by the fall of a malt-kiln, which is hinted at in 
the epitaph, deprived him of the best of parents, and left him 
poor and helpless. 

'* This loss, heavy to any one at that early age, would have 
been, however, to a young man possessing the ordinary 
means of support and the ordinary advantages of education 
comparatively light ; but to him — ^thus suddenly deprived of 
that support on which his youth had leaned — destitute al- 
most of any resource which industry affords to those who 
have the blessings of sight, with a body feeble and delicate 
from nature, and a mind congenially susceptible, it was not 
surprising that this blow was doubly severe, and threw on 
his spirits that despondent gloom to which he then gave 
way in the following pathetic lines, and which sometimes 
overclouded them in the subsequent period of his life : 

* Quarto edition of Poems, 1793, p. 152. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 251 

* Dejecting prospect ! Soon the hapless hour 
May come ; perhaps this moment it impends, 
WhioAi drives me forth to penury and cold, 
Na^ed, and beat by all the storms of hear^n. 
Friendless and goideless, to explore my way. 
Till on cold earth this poor unsheltered head 
Beclining, vainly from the ruthless blast 
Bespite I beg, and in the shock expire.' *'* 

Quite unexpectedly, howeyer, a friend interposed, in the 
person of Dr. Stevenson, an Edinburgh physician, who, 
having been much struck with some of Blacklock's juvenile 
effusions, invited him to the city, and at considerable ex- 
pense educated him for the ministry. How he, though blind, 
received a Crown presentation to the parish of Kirkcud- 
bright, and was after a brief period induced to give up his 
charge, and how he eventually settled down in Edinburgh 
to a scholastic and literary life, must be well known to our 
readers generally. When Burns visited the Scottish metro- 
polis. Dr. Blacklock received him with open arms, and we 
need scarcely say that his blind friend was one of the first 
to descry the peerless genius of the national bard ; and that 
at his instance Bums abandoned his design of emigrating to 
Jamaica, and resolved to remain in the old country. The 
"Epistle to Dr. Blacklock," dated at Ellisland, 21st October 
1789, and beginning "Wow, but your letter made me 
vauntie/* is rightly deemed one of the best effusions of the 
kind ever produced by Burns. Dr. Johnson visited Black- 
lock in 1773, and says he "looked on him with reverence f 
Heron speaks of him as " an angel upon earth ;" and Lock- 
hart eloquently remarks : " The writings of Blacklock are 
forgotten ; but the memory of his virtues wiD not pass away 
till mankind shall have ceased to sympathise with the mis- 
fortunes of genius and to appreciate the poetry of Bums." 
Considerations such as these invest with special interest the 
humble memorial product of Dr. Blacklock's filial love and 
the poetical lines which give it expression, flowing, as they 
must have done, gushing and burning from his heart and 
brain. 

Though frequent reference has already been made in these 

* Memoir prefixed to Poems. 



262 HKX0RIAL8 OF ST. HICHAEL's. 

pages to the Silver Gun contest, we must notice it at 
greater length in connection with the tombstone of Bobert 
Thomson, who was Convener of the Trades when their 
shooting for the little trophy formed the subject of 
John Mayne's celebrated poem. After being overlaid by 
a mass of rubbish for fully a quarter of a century, the me- 
morial now arrived at — a flat slab— was brought to light 
anew. It records the death of the renowned Convener, 
which occurred 19th December 1799, when he had reached 
the ripe age of 84. By trade a hammerman, he was every 
way worthy of his social position as Chief of the Incor- 
porated Seven, and as taking rank at the Town Council 
board next to the Provost. He had, says Mayne, "a very 
graceful exterior, to which his silver locks gave an air of the 
most venerable dignity. His character also was excellent; 
and what endeared hin^ to young people, his files and forge 
were always welcome to the boys who resorted thither to 
repair the implements of their pastime — an indulgence which 
in early life the author of these verses often experienced, 
and still gratefully remembers." 

Kingholm Merse was usually the scene of the shooting; 
but on this occasion — time, the Royal birth-day, 4th of June 
1777, "when George the Third was king" — ^the saturnalia 
was held at Maidenbower Craigs, near Dumfries, a series of 
rocks " wildly but beautifully variegated, with towering per- 
pendicular precipices to the north-east, yet cultivated to the 
very summit on the south-west, and sloping with a gentle 
declivity to the river Nith." Fortunately for the occasion the 
weather was exceedingly fine. Convener Thomson, as might 
have been looked for, receives frequent notice from the 
laureate of the competition. As the corporations passed 
along, we are told, "Echo's self was drown'd with ac- 
clamations.'^ 

" Their steps to martial airs agreeiiiK, 
And a' the Seven Trades' colours fleeing, 
Bent for the Craigs, O ! weel worth seeing ! 

They hy*d awa'; 
Their bauld Convener proud o' being 

The chief owre a'. 



MEHORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 253^ 

Attended by hU bodv-ffuard, 

He stepped wi' gracefumesB anpair'd ! 

Straight as the poplar on the swaird. 

And strong as Sampson, 
Nae ee could look without rega^ 

On Bobin Tamson. 

His crafty the Blacksmiths, first ava, 
Led the procession, twa and twa ; 
The Squaremen f oUow'd i' the raw,^ 

And syne the Weavers, 
The Taylors, Souters, Skinners a% 

And Marrow-cleavers." 

Of the hundreds who took part in the pageant and the 
thousands who looked on, joining in the exuberant revelry 
which it occasioned, not a single one survives, and a large 
proportion of them lie mouldering, like their chief, in the 
Cemetery of St. MichaeFs, though we can only specify the 
particular spots occupied by a few besides the Convener who 
are commemorated by the poet as figuring in the festival of 
1777 ; these being " Eoby Kemp," wright, William M^Ghie, 
painter, Archibald Malcolm, Town-clerk, Bailie Clark, 
" Johnnie Gas," Deacon Eonald, Dr. Mutter, and one or two 
others. The winner of the trinket, "William M*Nish, a 
taylor slee," sleeps untrophied in the sepulchre, but his 
name lives in the deathless verse of John Mayne, who does 
his very best to magnify the meteoric hero of the day. 

'* His winsome wife, wha lang had miss'd him, 
Press'd through the crowd, caress'd and kiss'd him. 
Less f urthy dames (wha oou'd resist them ?) 

Th' example take ; 
And some held up his bairns and bless'd them 

For daddy's sake !" 

As the marksmen returned from Craigs, 

" Close by Convener Tamson's side 
The Victor march' wi' stately stride." 

Arrived at the Burgh, the usual street rejoicings and in- 
door festivities took place, the Convener first presiding at 
the Trades' banquet, and then slipping away to take his seat 
''at the TownVha, amang the Bailies." Then one whose 
resting-place we have yet to visit, 

" Grave Dr. Mutter, 
Wi' pious care, 
And a' the zeal that grace could utter, 
Pref err'd this prayer : 



254 MEXoaiALS or st. mighaxl's. 

* O Thou ! by whose resistless l&w 
Kings, kingdoms, empires, stand or fa', 
Watch owre this realm ; bless great and sma' ; 

Keep, keep us free. 
And fill our hearts wi' reverend awe 

For truth and— Thee.' " 

While acting his part worthily on the field of contest and at 
the social board, the Convener of the Crafts realised the force 
of Burns's axiom, 

** To make a happy fireside clime to weans and wife. 
That's tJie true pathos and subUme of human life ;" 

and the closing verses relating to him consort better with the 
solemnising scenery of the Burial-ground than those that 
describe the exciting contest in which he mingled, and the 
hilarious revel with which it was crowned : 

" Haroe, as the gloamin' nearer draws. 
Convener Tamson slips his wa's, 
Where wife and weans, in a' their braws 

And best complexion. 
Crown the last transports of applause 

Wi' sweet affection I 

Jocosely, i' the gardy chair. 

He tells the day's adventures there ; 

Syne, ere the bairns to bed repair. 

For mercies giv'n 
His gratefu' thoughts, in fervent pray'r. 

Ascend to Heaven. 

like his our closing strain shall be. 
May Scotland, happy, brave, and free, 
Aye flourish like th' unfading tree ! 

And may Dumfries 
In a' her revelry and glee 

Blend love and peace !" 

The names of Convener Thomson's children, the " bairns'* 
of the poet's effusion, Robert, "Walter, Thomas, and Agnes, 
appear on the memorial-stone, which lies in the same 
neglected condition as the slab which commemorates the poet 
Blacklock's father. We should like very much to see them 
both restored. 

Memorial stones of other freemen who lived under the old 
Corporation system continue to be met with. William 
Crosbie, " Deacon-Convener," is among the number. Chief of 
all the Craftsmen at a time when his own trade, the Tailors, 
numbered 85, he on 4th June 1766, presided at the shooting 
for the Silver Gun. His death occurred 11th December 1775, 



UEMOBIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 265 

age 55. With him rest his two wives^ Elizabeth Potter and 
Mary Swan, and several of his children. The last competi- 
tion for King James's gift took place in a field on the Bank- 
end Eoady October 1831, when it was carried off by Deacon 
Alexander Johnston, also a tailor, in memory of whom a 
graceful pillar has been reared. The worthy Deacon, as 
costodier of the trophy, carried it in a great procession at 
the Dumfries celebration of the Bums's Centenary in 1859. 
He died 31st December 1862, aged 79. His name and that 
of his spouse, Mary Charteris, appear on the south side of 
the monument. On the east side there is an inscription in 
memory of their son Joseph, an accompHshed member of the 
legal profession, who, as a solicitor before the Supreme 
Courts, Edinburgh, overtaxed himself and died prematurely 
25th February 1865. The epitaph closes tlius : '^ Blessed to 
depart and be with Christ.'' 



<( 



Thou sleeping clay, sleep on in death, 
" ■ " Ill's ■ 



Mortality the soul's undress 
One day to wake immortal form 
On glorious resurrection morn." 

Margaret N. Johnston, a daughter, who died 25th Decem- 
ber 1873, is commemorated on the north side, and lies 
"interred in Highgate Cemetery, square 48, grave 19,763." 
A headstone within the enclosure is dedicated to Joseph 
Johnston (the Deacon's father, we presume), who died 1810, 
aged 70, and to his three wives, one of the very few threefold 
marriages we have yet seen recorded in the literature of St. 
Michael's. His first spouse was Margaret Hughes of Cal- 
pepper, Staffordshire, died 26th July 1773, aged 29 ; second, 
Margaret Newall, died 1st April 1801, aged 49 ; third, Mary 
Smith, who died eight years after her husband, at the age 
of 72. Nine children of Joseph Johnston, by his second 
wife, are named on another little headstone. 

Among the other workmen who lie underneath this ground, 
where no "device nor work is found," are Thomas Orr, 
Deacon of the Shoemakers, died 27th June 1804, aged 37, 
with Janet Glassells, his spouse; Thomas Eeid, cabinet- 
maker. Deacon of the Squaremen, died 27th April^ aged 55 
with James, his son, died at 25, an infant child, another son, 



1IBMOBIAI.B OF 8T. jaCHAS/Sb 



liaweFer, Thomas, reeeiTiog baiial in the aea, he having die^ 
4ih August 1833y at the age of 20, when sailing to India on 
board the Protector ; Jchn £wing, a patriarchal Crispinitey 
over whose head 85 years rolled before his last end was 
reached, and his earthly all had to be abandoned on 5th 
April 1827y soon after which he rej<Hned his wedded partner, 
Mary GloTcr, who predeceased him ; Richard Bendall, flax- 
dresser, died 31st March 1819, aged 74, with his spouse 
Mary, a sister, we believe, of the John Ewing aforesaid ; 
James Kerr, also a shoemaker, died 12th March 1805, aged 
66, with Henrietta Kerr, his spouse, and their sons, WiDiam, 
who died at 21, and Bobert, of the 46th Foot Begiment, 
died at Martinica at 33 ; Bobert Wilson, a member of 
the same craft, died 1st May 1819, aged 77, with his 
wife, Ann MHiJaliae, and their two infant children ; Francis 
Wilson, another cordwainer, died 28th April 1808, aged 60, 
with Jean Wilson, his wife, their children, Agnes died at 4 
and William at 37 ; also Jane Grieve, wife of George Irving, 
shoemaker, died 1st December 1855, aged 51 ; Peter Ander- 
son, also a shoemaker, died of cholera, 9th October 1832, aged 
57 ; and two other members of the same trade, James 
Fergosson, died 7th September 1837, aged 58, with Janet 
Boddick, his spouse, and five of their youthful children ; James 
Todd died 2d October 1868, aged 67, with Charlotte Crombie, 
his wife (sister of Bailie Crombie), and their daughter Eliza- 
beth, died at 40, in Dundee. 

The list also includes John Crosbie, saddler, died 22d 
August 1843, aged 86, with Mary Johnston, his spouse; 
Bobert Johnston, gunmaker, died 7th December 1832, aged 
61, with Mary Scott, his wife ; also, two daughters of 
William Johnston, printer, Mary Scott and Agnes Margaret, 
both of whom died young; John Jackson, weaver, who 
wrought at the loom when his craft in the Burgh numbered 
59, and who doubtless felt that his life had passed rapidly, 
like the movements of the shuttle, when it was cut short 
April 10th 1792, aged 39 ; William Geddes, another of the 
same trade, whose web of life was lengthened out to more 
than threescore years and ten, his death occurring at Trench, 



VEKORIALS OF ST. MIGHABL^S^ 25T 

29th December 1853, with Elizabeth Geddes, his spouse ; 
Bobert Brand, blacksmith, the spark of life blown out 5th 
July 1817, aged 63, and of whom it is said, in lines from 
Ora'ifi Mtffy (Hlightly altered), " No further seek his merits 
to disclose, nor draw his frailties from their last abode ;" also 
James Muir, another hammerman (bis son-in-law ?), died 9th 
February 1826, aged 54, with Margaret Brand, his spouse, 
and three of their children — Robert, died at 6, Jane at 17, 
and a second Robert at 24 ; Samuel Thomson, nailer, died 
28th September 1832, aged 79, with Mary Grierson, his 
spouse ; Robert Burgess, plasterer, died 13th January 1814, 
aged 78, with Margaret Stott, his wife, and four of their 
infant children; John Hyslop, joiner, died 16th February 
1762, aged 57, with Margaret Paine, his wife ; James Goldie,. 
bricklayer, died 30th June 1803, aged 67, with Agnes Black- 
stock, his spouse, their daughter Agnes, and her husband,. 
Thomas Hood, gardener, died, 19th January 1818, aged 65^ 
David "Wood, iron-turner, died 18th July 1861, aged 49 ; 
Margaret Robertson, wife of Thomas Crosbie, house car- 
penter, died 16th June 1816, aged 40, with two of their 
young children, their son-in-law, George M^Lachlan, baker,, 
died 10th September 1824, aged 22, and his youthful son, 
George; Agnes Irving Renwick, wife of Thomas Russell,, 
nailer, 26th January 1847, aged 42, with Matthew, son of 
Matthew Russell, nailer, aged 21 ; Catherine, eldest daughter 
of Robert Neilson, house painter, Maxwelltown, died 18th 
February 1865 (age not given), also his niece, Sarah Cathe- 
rine Neilson Easton, aged 8. 

Alternating with the spots occupied by these '^ producers^ 
of wealth," we find (to use still further the language of 
political economy) the graves of sundry " wealth distributors," 
or, in other words, men who bandied weights and measures,, 
and have themselves been weighed in the balances that are 
ever just and true. These include William Gracie, died 
16th August 1778, aged 50, with three of his youthful pro- 
geny ; Francis Reid, died 10th April 1820, aged 84, his wife,. 
Helen Dougan, with their son, James, aged 15, lying beside- 
him ; WilUam Gibson, died 13th April 1828, aged 62, with Ann 

Q 



258 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

Tinning, his wife, three infants, and five other chUdren-^ 
Thomas, aged 14, Eobert 21, William 17, John 24, and 
Jessie 59 ; James Byres, died 29th*' December 1847, aged 
57, with Catherine Bobison, his spouse, and their daughter 
Mary, who died at 15 ; James Miller, died 6th October 
1784, aged 33 ; a second James Miller, died 16th Angiist 1850, 
aged 77, with Jane Nicholson, his spouse, and several of their 
children ; Andrew Fleming, Maxwelltown, died 9th June 1 851, 
aged 74, with Janet Warf eill, his wife, and ^' Mrs Elizabeth 
Fleming,'' his daughter ; William Smith, whose name appears 
on a stately upright stone, died 8th July 1846, aged 77, 
also that of Margaret Stuart, his wife, the monument 
commemorating also six of their children, including Bobert 
Thomson, who died at Cheltenham, aged 39, and Thomas, 
long a leading house painter in the Burgh, who died 9th 
April 1862, aged 51 ; John Miller, died 16th August 
1850, aged 77, with Janet Nicholson, his spouse, and five 
of their progeny, three of whom were infants, James and 
Eobert " died in manhood," and Frances, daughter of Samuel 
Miller, died 8th June 1875, aged 73. 

Under another table-stone lies Nichol Shaw, merchant, died 
25th July, 1808, aged 75, on whom the following eulo- 
gium is pronounced : " Upright and honest in all his actions ; 
compassionate and charitable ; a most affectionate husband 
and steady friend ; he exemplified in his life and death the 
character of a sincere and pious Christian." The name of 
Margaret Pinkstone, his spouse, is appended without any 
meed of praise, thoagh it would be wrong to infer on that 
account that she was not perfectly worthy of such a partner. 

In this connection we may notice, perhaps, a tall, unique, 
pointed headstone bearing the name of Eobert M'Millan, 
died 9th August 1799, aged 50 ; and an altar-stone, to which 
it is affixed, in memory of his wife, Margaret Donaldson, 
their son John, died at Fayetteville, North Carolina, 7th 
October 1820, aged 51, and daughters Elizabeth and Mary, 
whose ages are not specified. Near it stands another tabular 
monument in memory of Adam Brown, stamp-office clerk, 
died 16th September 1813, aged 58 ; Ann Black, his spouse ; 



MEICORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL'S. ' 259 

and several of their offspring, including Patrick Maxwell, 
died at 28, and Annie at 79. 

John Carrick, Greenbrae, who was nearly a nonogenarian, 
lies beneath an adjoining table-stone, died 18th February 
1835, with Janet Geddes, his spouse ; also his son-in-law, 
James Murray, who died when he was fourscore years and 
three, 2'7th February 1865, with Janet Carrick, his spouse, 
and three of their offspring, including John, who died at 13. 

A stone of tabular form rises near by, as a tribute from 
"William and Peter M*Kie, of Philadelphia, North America, 
^^to an affectionate and indulgent father," James M*Kie, 
died 9th May 1789, aged 64 ; Agnes Wilson, his wife, and 
several of their children, being also named in the inscription. 

On an adjoining table monument appear a number of 
names, some of which were long familiar in the Burgh and 
neighbourhood : Andrew Clark, brewer, Maxwelltown, died 
7th June 1820, aged 68 ; Margaret Bell, his spouse ; Jane 
Clark, their daughter, wife of James Bendal, grocer, the 
latter of whom will be well remembered by many as a warm 
hearted and intelligent gentleman ; he is mentioned in the 
inscription as having died 3d February 1858, aged 75 ; James 
Bendal, wine merchant, their son, died 2d May 1862, aged 
35 ; also Margaret Allan Thomson, relict of Dugald M^Dougall, 
late merchant in Dumfries, and granddaughter of the above 
Andrew Clark, died 12th July 1866, aged 54. 

On the marble tablet of a neat monument we read the 
name of James Turner, draper, a man of virtue and intelli- 
gence, died 23d November 1870, aged 56 ; four of his children, 
including James, aged 22, are also named in the inscription. 

A worthy cloth merchant and his wife, Jean Black (sister 
of Adam Black, gardener), who outlived her husband many 
years, are commemorated by a table-stone thus inscribed : 

" In memory of Bobert MenzieSy who died the 2d March 1836, aged 
72 years. From industry and perseverance in his business he raised 
hiuse^ to a comfortable independence. He was a kind friend to the 
poor, who have reason to mourn his loss, and to whom he admini- 
stered relief without ostentation. He was extensively known and 
respected, nnd his character and benevolent deeds will be long grate- 
fully remembered." 



260 mofOEiAiiS or sr. michaxl's. 

When paaang along, some traces of eighteenth century 
merchants are obtained in addition to those ab^eadj specified : 
" Here lyes William Bobertson, merchant in Dumfries, who 
departed this life the 5th of January 1723, aged 63 years.'' 
So we read on a venerable memorial-stone of tabular form. 
The deceased, we may assume, had opened shop before the 
Union with England, and would be troubled for his wares, 
if not for his personal safety, when in " Mar's-year," Viscount 
Kenmure threatened to sack the Burgh. In what sort of 
goods did he traffic ? If in the grocery line, which was most 
likely the case, he may possibly have dispensed to the lieges 
some of the new fragrant Chinese herb which first reached 
this quarter about a hundred and sixty years ago. He would 
doubtless deal in tobacco, which was extensively smoked long 
before he became familiar with weights and measures, though 
the " weed," in its granulated form had not yet supplied 
"pleasure for a nose divine." "Wines, oils, spices of many 
kinds, sugar for rum punch, if not also for tea, and possibly 
the rum itself, together with divers products of the farm and 
dairy, would also, we may be sure, figure among his wares. 
Mr. Robertson's spouse, Margaret Storey, " daur. to Thos, 
Storey of Howend," is mentioned on the monument ; also, 
John Robertson, their son, who followed his father's occupa- 
tion, died 18th May 1774, aged 70. 

On the verge of the walk which runs eastward of this 
section, lies a merchant who was a contemporary of the 
above — Joseph MiUer, died 20th August 1736, aged 87, 
with his wife, Alice Johnston, below a flat stone which 
was once ornate with the rueful emblems of mortality, but 
these, abraded by the feet of travellers, have nearly disap- 
peared : the sand glass has all but vanished, the cross bones 
are barely visible, and the head of the destroyer haa ceased 
to be grisly : the sight thus revealed reminding us that the 
antitype of these things is also doomed to perish : " When 
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mor- 
tal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass 
the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. 
O Death, where is thy sting, O Grave, where is thy victory." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 261 

The names in the foregoing list of tradesmen appear chiefly 
on headstones and those of the merchants on tables. A few 
headstones remain to be noticed, these commemorating: Andrew 
"Wilson, sergeant, Dumfriesshire Militia, died 19th May 1817, 
aged 41 ; Annie Wilson, spouse of James Wadeson, died 14th 
September 1854, aged 28 ; John "Wilson, died 16th December 
1865, aged 72, with Mary "Wells, his spouse ; Mary John- 
ston, daughter of William Darling, portioner, West Beston, 
Berwickshire, died 8th July 1828, aged 17 ; Agnes Hutchi- 
son, wife of Robert Wilson, died 29th October 1774, aged 33 ; 
Anne Friers, spouse of James Archbold, died 23d March 
1829, aged 34 ; Thomas Sutcliffe, Halifax, died 30th January 
1837, aged 63 ; John Chesney, harbour-master, died 21st 
September 1846, aged 72, with his son James, mariner, died 
at 26 ; James Savage, with a cross engraved above the name 
to indicate that he was a Eoman Catholic, died 20th May 
1848, aged 67, with Isabella, his wife, and their youthful 
daughter Isabella ; Grace Meikle, wife of Alexander Barry, 
carver and gilder, died 6th June 1871, aged 59, with three 
infant children; Benjamin Rogerson, died 7th April 1838, 
aged 53, with his offspring — ^William, died when 19, John, 
at St. Vincent, when 21, and two who died in infancy ; 
four children of James Camithers, William died at 19, Jane 
at 16, Francis, and Joseph, whose ages are not recorded. 



SBOOHD DfTKRIOR SBCTION — CONCLUDED. 

"Tv^TE are reminded of the old connection between 
^^^^Sjf^ Domfries and the Annandale Johnstones by 
*^ reading, on a liigh-walled endosorey the words, 

^Bnrial Place of the Family of Johnstone of Corehead." 
Doubtless some members of this famous Border family 
lie within ; but we. learn from a good authority that 
there are no inscriptions in the interior, and if there be 
memorial slabs on the floor^ they are so covered over 
with rubbish and thorns as to be invisible. When the 
Jacobite rebels, under Lord Kenmure, bore down menacingly 
upon Dumfries, William Johnstone, first Marquis of Annan- 
dale, acting as Lord-lieutenant of the County, assisted the 
magistrates in defending the Burgh ; and he had for a deputy 
his near kinsman, Johnstone of Corehead. The present 
representative of the family is Colonel Butler-Johnstone, 
formerly of the Scottish Borderers, and many years member 
of Parliament for Canterbury. 

We have already noticed the name of Crombie in con- 
nection with the Dumfries mason trade, and we find it 
repeated on three monuments which neighbour each other« 
The oldest of these is an altar-stone devoted to Alexander 
Crombie, the first of the family who settled in the Burgh, 
and who must have begun to ply mallet and chisel more than 
a hundred and fifty years ago, seeing that he died 27th De- 
cember 1785, aged 79. A native of Haddingtonshire, he was 
engaged as a young man to work at Tinwald House, and before 
many years elapsed he became one of the leading builders in 
the locality, drawing from the Castledykes Quarry, of which 
he was tacksman, the rough material for executing the works 
in town and country with which he was entrusted. Mr. 
Crombie was employed by Convener Harley, contractor for 
Moorheads' Hospital, to supply the mason work of the build- 
ing in 1752, and another of his extensive undertakings was 
the erection, about 1770, of the Butcher Market with its 



HSHORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 263 

abattoir (transformed to the New Markets in 1834). His 
wife, Elizabeth Murray, is also named upon the monument. 

Very handsome structures of Gothic design rise in memory 
of their son and grandson, both extensive builders in their 
day ; one of these stones, fronting to the east, being thus 
inscribed : 

** Sacred to the memory of Alexander Crombie, builder, Dumfries, 
died 31st of May 1828, aged 71 years. Honest, upright, true, and 
possessed of rare talents and skill, he enjoyed the love and respect of 
family, friends, and society. Also Charlotte Watson, his wife, who 
died 8th May 1817, aged 53 years ; also Alexander, who died in 
1792, Charlotte in 1795, both in infancy, Elizabeth in 1811, aged 24 
years, Mary, 26th January 1839, aged 50 years, son and daughters 
of the above ; and of William Miller Crombie, their eldest son, who 
died 15th March 1853, aged 63 years." 

Mrs. Crombie was the sister of Thomas Watson, mason, 

whose tombstone has been already noticed. 

Among other stately mansions built by Alexander 
Crombie was Dalswinton, which overlooks the loch where 
steam-navigation was cradled and the scenery in which 
Allan Cunningham, as he himself tells us, composed his 
earliest eifusions. During the last thirty years of his life, 
however, Mr. Crombie was much more occupied with con- 
structing memorials for the dead than domiciles for the 
living, his principal workshop being St. Michael's. Church- 
yard. " In carving and lettering (says the Courier) he was 
quite a professional, and it is not too much to say that his 
genius and taste raised the art he practised in the South of 
Scotland. Not a few of those who were trained by Mr. 
Crombie, and the profession to a man, would deeply regret if 
he who had planned so many monuments for others should 
remain undistinguished by one himself . But as he left a son 
who assisted, and now succeeds him, we may conclude, in the 
emphatic language of Blair, 

** That soon some trusty brother of the trade 
Will do for him what he has done for thousands." 

One of the fine monuments we have just been visiting bears 
witness to the correctness of this anticipation. 

The companion monument which fronts to the north couk- 
memorates a man of much business enterprise and public 



264 MBMORIAL8 OF ST. MICHABL's. 

spirit — ^Bailie Crombie. As the inscription upon it tells, he 
was a leading promoter of the greatest sanitary boon ever 
conferred upon the Burgh ; and we may fairly add that he 
was popular and efficient as a councillor and magistrate. 
The epitaph is in these terms : 

" Sacred to the memory of Andrew Crombie, builder in Dumfries, 
who died 9th January 1855, aged 56 years. Esteemed in the private 
oiiole and respected in public, his name is enrolled in the list of those 
worthy citizens who accomplished the introduction of pnre water to 
the town ; idso of Mary Todd, his beloved wife, who died 9th Feb- 
ruary 1849, aged 46 years.*' 

Four children — Charlotte, Alexander^ William, and Andrew 
— ^all of whom died young, are included in the inscription. 

Besides these three stones rises a neat monument, which 
reminds us of the fearful cholera period, commemorating as 
it does an affectionate married pair who were cut off by the 
epidemic at the same age, 29, and within a few days of each 
other. These were George Lorimer, cabinetmaker, who died 
on the 4th October 1832, and Christina, daughter of the 
second Alexander Crombie, who died on the 8th October 
1832. 

For at least four generations the Crombies have by 
hand and head work done much to fashion the masonic 
physiognomy of the Queen of the South. Bailie Crombie*s 
grandfather, Alexander, began the work, and the nephew 
and grand-nephew of the former carry on at present an ex- 
tensive business as Alexander Crombie & Son, architects, 
Dumfries. 

The memory of Helen Cairns, spouse of William Martin, 
teacher, is preserved by a small headstone, which bears upon 
it also the names of their two sons^ William died at 5 and 
John at 10; but no mention is made in the inscription of 
the worthy preceptor himself, who died 25th September 
1875, aged 65. In a newspaper notice of his death it was 
truly said: '^He cherished a just pride in his profession, 
and made the drudgery inseparable from it pleasurable by 
the freshness and enthusiasm which he brought to bear on 
his work. Many of the qualities which go to make a suc- 
cessful teacher were possessed by him in a high degree. His 



M£MORIAL6 OF ST. MICHAEL's. 265 

mind was well stored with general information ; and the 
lessons of the school, prescribed from well-selected class- 
books, were amplified by his oral exposition, and rendered 
simple and interesting by his method of illustration — a 
method which reached the mind of the pupil not by the 
ear only but also by the eye. Intelligent and scholarly, he 
was also resolute ; and the firmness with which he con- 
ducted his school made it a model of academic discipline." 
Mrs. Martin died 23d May 1838, aged 31. 

Several tombstone reminders of our High School have al- 
ready been noticed ; other two rise up in this section, both 
of them graceful monuments of distinguished masters of 
that distinguished seminary. One of them, fronting north, 
bears the following inscription : 

'* Sacred to the memory of Thomas White, a profound and origina 
mathematician, who taught in the Dumfries Academy forty years, 
and instructed hundreds who revere his memory. In all the re- 
lations of private life, as a husband, father, and friend, Mr. White 
was most exemplary. He died 1st June 1825, in the 67th year of 
his age. Erected by attached friends and pupils to commemorate the 
esteem in which the deceased was held." 

We understand that Mr. White thoroughly merited the 
eulogium thus passed upon him. The deceased enriched his 
favourite science with some discoveries and new illus- 
trations, especially in the department of mathematical 
analysis. These he embodied in a series of papers which 
attracted considerable notice at the time, and for which he 
received a vote of thanks from the Board of Longitude. 
Mr. White was a native of Hexham, Northumberland. He 
was succeeded by another competent teacher, Mr. William 
Armstrong, whose memory is well preserved by the Academy 
bursaries which he founded — one ^18 in value, another 
;£15, and several others of £12 each. Mr. Munn, a mathe- 
matician of high repute, succeeded Mr. Armstrong ; and on 
the former receiving an appointment in Edinburgh, the pre- 
sent able mathematical teacher, Mr. Neilson, was appointed 
in his place. 

While Mr. White was initiating young Dumfries in the 
mysteries of Euclid, Mr. Kennedy was busy familiarising 
the same interesting charge with caligraphy and French. 



266 IfSMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

The one laboured at his calKDg for the long period of two- 
score years, and the other, as his monument points out, had 
a still more lengthened spell. The inscription states that it 
is '^ In memory of John Kennedy, who filled the offices of 
writing master and teacher of the French language with 
great ability and reputation for 44 years, and died 28th Oct. 
1826, in the 67th year of his age." It also commemorates 
his wife, Elizabeth Denholm, died 5th July 1865, aged 85, 
and six members of their household as follows : Sarah, died 
1st Oct 1855, aged 48 ; Mary, who died in infancy ; John 
Hamilton Kennedy, Lieut.-Colonel of the Madras Native 
Infantry, who died at Bedcastle, 20th May 1865, aged 60 ; 
Sarah Young, his wife, who died at Masulipatam, 13th Nov- 
ember 1848, aged 43 ; William Denholm Kennedy [artist], 
who died in London, 2d June 1865, aged 54 ; Helen, eldest 
daughter of Colonel Kennedy, who died in London, 25th 
March 1866, aged 26. The names of sundry other relatives 
appear upon the plinth of the monument : two more daugh- 
ters of Colonel Kennedy, Marion, wife of Allan Duff, died 
in Edinburgh, 16th October 1870, aged 30, and Elizabeth, 
died in the same city 2l8t October 1870, aged 28; Jane, 
daughter of John H Kennedy, Captain of the Madras Army, 
who died in childhood. 

Some of the inscriptions we have met with seem to be too 
prodigal of praise, but the Kennedy one does not err in this 
respect. The panegyric which it passes on the excellent pre- 
ceptor is certainly not overdone. Much of his great pro- 
fessional success was due to his sympathetic disposition, 
which enabled him all the better to understand the feelings 
of his pupils and win their confidence. Every boy or girl 
that entered his school, we are told, cherished for him 
thi-ough life the most affectionate feelings, and he possessed 
in a remarkable degree ^^ the happy art of shaming children 
out of their little foibles and changing and improving the 
most untoward tempers." No mention is made upon the 
monument of the services rendered to art by his accom- 
plished son, William D. Kennedy, the greatest landscape 
and figure painter whom the Burgh has produced. His 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 267 

celebrated classical scenes, with their gorgeons colouriDg, 
will long preserve his name and fame while he is moulder- 
ing in the dust. On one occasion^ when Sir David Wilkie 
and a brother artist were looking at some pictures that were 
still fresh though several centuries old, the former pensively- 
remarked, " It is we who are the shadows ; and it is pictures 
such as these that remain the substance, when their pro- 
ducers have passed away." Yet we should have liked to see . 
some notice taken of !^ennedy, the painter, on the family 
monument^ even though we feel gratification in thinking 
that he cannot be forgotten so long as 'Hhe breathing 
canvas" of his creative genius outlives the assaults of time. 
The post vacated nearly fifty years ago by John Kennedy ^ 
as writing master, was next filled by John Craik, who ac- 
quired more than local repute by his matchless penmanship ; 
he was succeeded by David Dunbar, the poet of Home-life ; 
and the vacancy caused by his death, in 1873, was filled up 
by an efficient teacher, Mr. William Grierson, who recently 
left Dumfries to occupy another situation in Glasgow. 

Neighbouring the Kennedy monument, rises another one of 
an imposing stamp, in memory of Christopher Smyth of Beech- 
grove, a shrewd and skilful member of the legal profession, 
who had an extensive practice as such for many years before 
his death, which took place 14th May 1843, aged 78. His 
wife, Jane Gray, and several of their children^ are named in 
the inscription : one of them, George Alexander, became a 
merchant in Calcutta, where he died at the early age of 27, 
on 3d January 1823 ; another, Christopher, still younger by 
a year, sickened and died at sea 12th Jul)' 1826, while pro- 
ceeding to the same city from Etangoon, as chief officer of the 
East India Company's ship Ganges ; a third, Charles Gray, 
writer in Kirkcudbright, died 23d July 1846, aged 30 ; a 
fourth, Dr. W. G. Smyth, who practised as a physician in 
Ixmdon, died there 2d ^pril 1857 ; a fifth, Thomas Bobin- 
son Smyth, who followed his father's profession in Dumfries^ 
and took a creditable part in public affairs both as councillor 
and bailie, his death occurring 2l8t April 1860 (age not 
stated) ; and a daughter, Agnes, who died 27th July 1860. 



268 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

A lengthened obituary list has recently been added as fol- 
lows : Jane, third daughter of Mr. C. Smyth, and relict of 
the late William Luck of Kennington Park, London, died 
dth November 1868 ; Maria, eldest daughter, and relict of 
the late George Little, surgeon, Ecclefechan, died 22d Octo- 
ber 1874 ; Bridget Irving, wife of John A. Smyth, solicitor, 
died 14th June 1864 ; Christopher Alfred Smyth, only child 
of Alfred L. Brander, of the War Oflfice, London, the youth- 
ful grandson of Mr. C. Smyth ; and Eleanor Doveton, infant 
daughter of William Gray Smyth, M.D., London. The 
family is now represented by Mr. John A. Smyth, solicitor 
and Burgh Treasurer, also a most useful member of our 
local parliament. 

The Smyth monument is flanked by two stones of tabular 
form. One of them is in memory of George Gray, of the 
Excise, died 28th July 1810, aged 74, to whom the following 
glowing tribute is paid : 

. "The whole tenor of his life was unblemished ; his conduct dis- 
creet, sincere, and manly ; his heart grateful and affectionate ; a 
sincere Christian, an excellent husband, an anxious father, and a 
faithful friend." 

His spouse, Mary Armstrong ; their son William, of the 

Excise, died 24th December 1817, aged 39 ; and another son, 

George, writer, died 30th April 1818, aged 37, are also 

named in the inscription. 

The second stone bears the f oUowing epitaph, the versified 

portion of which is not very happily expressed : 

"In memory of Janet Gray, spouse to Captain George Williams 
of Whitehaven, who died there 5th November 1789, aged 57, was 
brought from thence, and interred here as the last token of esteem 
for the remains of a kind and indulgent partner, much respected 
through life and regretted at death. Her virtues heightened by a 
modest, sweet, and engaging disposition ; pious, mild, and bene- 
volent; a sincere friend, a worthy companion, a most affectionate 
and loving wife. 

Who while in life great care for me did take. 

Which makes me to lament my dear departed mate ; 

But since it was His will, which is divine, 

His blessed will ought always to be mine. 
Also Janet Borthwick, spouse to the above-mentioned George 
Williams, who died upon the 26th day of September 1815, in the 
53d year of her age. Respected through life and regretted at death, 
A most affectionate wife and attentive mother." 

The words "Sacred to the memory of Ambrose Clarke, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHAEL's. 26^ 

late of the George Inn, Dumfries/* appear upon a neigh- 
bouring headstone, with a cross above and '^Bequiescat in 
pace " below, to indicate the Boman Catholic faith which he 
held. Probably the house of which he was the energetic 
landlord displayed at first the pictured head of the "wee^ 
wee German lairdie'' by way of sign-board, and at all 
events it was a prosperous inn during the reign of all the 
Four Georges, till the stage-coach business, on which it so 
xuuch relied, was interfered with by the irresistible " Genius 
of the Bail." It was in the Greorge Hotel that an incident 
occurred to which the municipal annals of Scotland, we 
believe, afford no parallel — the election, namely, of John 
Corbet as Provost early on a Sabbath morning, after his 
supporters had, on the preceding day, been forcibly expelled 
from the Council Chamber by the rival party during the 
celebrated contest between the Pyets and the Crows, at 
Martinmas 1759. While Mr. Clarke was host of the George, 
it was still a flourishing and favourite "place of entertain- 

9 

ment for man and beast." He died 26th September 1838, 
aged 57. An adjoining stone, similar in form, commemo- 
rates his relative, Frederick Campbell, died 30th December 
1837, aged 42, and the wife of the latter, Martha Cowdery. 

Of venerable patriarchs we have traced not a few during 
our frequent visits to St. Michael's ; and with no ordinary 
interest we overlook the spot where rests the father of them 
all in point of age — James M'Neil, who was more than a 
centenarian, and remarkable for guileless simplicity and 
moral worth as well as for length of days, A table tomb- 
stone marks the place, beside which are two thrughs bearing 
memorial words that are repeated on the principal monument, 
the combined inscriptions reading thus : 



(< 



In memory of James M*Neil, of Royal Oak, near this town, who 
departed this life April 30« 1836, aged 101 years. Agnes Anderson, 
spouse to James McNeil, who died Sept. 11th, 1784, aged 46 years. 
Also of James M*Neil, their son, late baker and brewer Id Dumfries, 
who departed this life Nov. 8th, 1832, aged 67. Also Elizabeth 
McNeil, their daughter, who died June 2, 1849, aged 81. Also Agnes 
M'Kitrick, relict of James M'Kitrlck, mason, and daughter of the 
above, who died on the 25th of November 1857, aged 78 years. Also 
Mary M*Neil, who died 10th January 1869, aged 93." 



270 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

The veteran's spouse was cut off at middle age; but his 
progeny, inheriting his constitutional vigour, enjoyed length- 
ened leases of life, and probably that of James would have 
been more protracted had not the epidemic of 1832, which 
made such a resistless onslaught upon young and old, num- 
bered him among its victims. From what we have heard of 
the patriarchal McNeil, and from a fine sketch given of him 
by the Courier^ we are led to think that he must in some 
respects have resembled Isaac Ashford, as depicted by 
^' Nature's sternest painter, yet the best," George Crabbe : — 

" To bliss domestic he his heart resigned, 
And with the firmest had the fondest mind : 
"Were others joyful, he looked smiling on, 
And gave allowance where he needed none, 
Good he refused with future ill to buy, 

Nor knew a joy that caused reflection's sigh. 

***** * 

True to his church he came : no Sunday-shower 
Kept him at home in that important hour ; 
Nor his firm feet could one persuading sect 
By the strong glare of their new light direct ; 
' On hope, in mine own sober light I gaze. 
But should be blind and lose it in your blaze.* '* 

Subjoined is the obituary notice referred to, copied from 
the Courier of 4th May 1836 : 

"Died at the Royal Oak, near Gasstown, on Friday, the 
29th ultimo, Mr. James M'Neil, in the 101st year of his age. 
A few weeks ago we had the curiosity to visit this veteran, 
and on referring to our note-book, found the following 
entry : — A friend or two lately visited the greatest veteran 
in the district — old Mr. James M'Neil, who has resided 
half a century in the same house, and in the Lochar Moss 
for a much longer period, say from seventy to eighty years. 
Drs. Wight, Mutter, Bumside, and Scot filled in succession 
the pulpit of St Michael's in his day ; and when the Rev. 
Robert Wallace was inducted, he remarked that he was the 
fifth minister that he had seen in the parish. About sixteen 
years ago, when the sacrament was dispensed, Mr. M*Neil 
was confined for a short period by indisposition, and at that 
time he mentioned that for more than sixty years he had not 
been absent from the parish church on any similar occasion. 
Tn his outgoings and incomings he was remarkably regular. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIOHAEL's. 271 

performed family worship morning and evening, lived within 
the sound of St. Michael's bell, visited the house of prayer 
twice every Sabbath, and, including Fast and other preach- 
ing days, must have listened to more than seven thousand 
lectures and sermons. During his whole life he was a hard 
working man, married early, reared a numerous family, and 
reclaimed by his own hands a few acres of moss land, which 
became a little lairdship and his chief support in his de- 
clining years. The house he resides in was built fifty years 
ago, and bore for long the name of the Eoyal Oak, from a 
goodly tree that was at length cut down as being too large for 
the size of the garden. A little before this time not a hou^e 
stood where Gasstown is now built : Mr. M*Neil recollects 
the time when there were only three between Dumfri^ and 
Collin toll-bar. Like most old people he considers the 
changes that society has undergone no great improvement, 
clings to the past, and particularly to the time when every 
family brewed their own temperate cup of ale. Mr. M'Neil 
was bom in the parish of Anwoth, and fi>r many years his 
father kept the principal inn at Gatehouse-of -Fleet. After- 
wards, however, he removed to Barkmahoe, and one of the 
oldest things our friend remembers is standing on a thrugh- 
stone at Kirkton Churchyard to see the Highlanders march 
past in the '45. His father had a pair of silver buckles, 
which he took the precaution of hiding lest Donald should 
break the eighth commandment, and a few pounds of gun- 
powder were removed from the house for the same reason. 
Politics never troubled his mind : rising with the lark and 
going to bed as soon, he consulted few books excepting the 
Bible, and cared little for Prime Minister and affairs of 
State so long as all went well at home — including friends and 
neighbours, the parish generally, and especially the minister 
of the Old Church." As regards the veteran's demise it is 
stated that "the machinery of life stood still, extreme old 
age merged so completely into infancy that nothing could be 
more characteristic than the expression used by his principal 
attendant, ' He just, sir, slept away.' " 

The veritable shoe buckles individualised in the above 



272 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

narrative are still preserved whole and bright at Viewfield; 
Dumfries, the residence of the veteran's respected grandson^ 
Mr. Thomas D. M'Kitrick ; and we need scarcely say that 
they are carefully treasured as interesting mementoes of a 
bye-gone age. 

During the early part of the current century there were 
few more notable men in Dumfries than Jtimes McNeil, son 
of the centenarian. Possessed of uncommon energy and 
enterprise, he carried on business as a baker, brewer, and 
banker simultaneously, and for a long period with success. 
He became a large landed proprietor, in which capacity he 
was known to be a liberal improver; and while owner of 
Craigs, he opened the productive quarry upon that estate. 
The block of buildings in High Street called the Turnpike 
(which was superseded by the present stately tenements 
about fifty years ago) belonged to him. There for 'some 
time after the Revolution lived the notorious persecutor^ 
Grierson of liag ; there too he died ; and so overgrown had 
he become that his remains could not be carried for burial 
down stairs, but a division between the front windows had 
to be removed in order that the body might be lowered down 
to the hearse by which it was conveyed to Dunscore Church- 
yard. Sixty years ago people generally were more super- 
stitious than they are now, and many a one wondered that 
Mr. McNeil not only occupied the same premises but slept in 
the same bedroom as Lag. Without being a cronie of Bums, 
Mr. McNeil's sister, who acted as his housekeeper, used to 
remark that " she aye kend richt weel when her brother had 
been spending his nichts wi' the poet." Unfortunately, the 
banking enterprise in which Mr. M*Neil was engaged col- 
lapsed with a destructive crash, his loss amounting, it is 
said, to about £20,000. 




BEHIND THE CHURCH. 

ASTWAED, behind the church, stretches an ex- 
tensive section in which several patrician families, 
with many middle-class and others of a humbler 
grade, have found a home of rest. The boundary line be- 
tween it and the still more extensive division we have just 
left behind on the south may be indicated by several pro- 
minent memorials, beginning with the Elshieshields pillar 
and terminating a little eastward of the Martyrs' pyramid. 

The pillar just named rises so high that it cannot be over- 
looked, and its proportions and details are so tasteful as to 
merit universal admiration. A panel on the east side 
is dedicated to Theodore Edgar of Elshieshields, who died 
5th February 1784, aged 68; and one on the south to 
John William Byrne of Elshieshields, who died at Eed- 
land Park, Clifton, 13th March 1876, aged 72, "in full 
peace." Two table-stones near by are raised over kindred 
dust, on one of which we read : " Here lyes the body of Mr. 
Bobert Edgar, writer in Dumfries, who lived almost four- 
score years and ten, and died an honest man," July 4th 1759. 
His spouse, Marion Johnstone, and his daughter, "Mrs. Marion 
Edgar,'' who lived to very nearly her father's age, are also 
named on the monument. The other commemorates Esther 
Pearson, widow of Theodore Edgar, " Mrs. Margaret Edgar," 
"Mrs. Christina Bethune," wife of John Edgar of Elshie- 
shields, and John Edgar Dickson of Elshieshields, died 21st 
November 1858, aged 80. 

Fronting southwards, stands a very handsome structure 
in memory of Bobert Kemp, who, as writer, chief-magis- 
trate, and town-derk, occupied a high social position. He 
wafl elevated to the provostship in 1834, and discharged its 
duties efficiently ; and in 1842 he succeeded to the town- 
clerkship, which office he retained till his death, which oc- 
cnired 30th January 1853, at the age of 74. The stone also 
commemorates Margaret M'Ghie, his widow, died 5th June 

R 



274 XBMOBIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

1871, aged 86; their sons — ^William, who died at 11, and 
Bobert, a writer by profession, who died 7th June 1839, 
aged 24 ; and their daughter Mary, wife of Professor Am> 
brose Blacklock, of the Medical College, Madras, who died 
at that Presidency 21st February 1856, and, as mentioned 
in chapter eighteenth, lies there interred. A table monu- 
ment stands in the same compartment to commemorate Pro- 
vost Kemp's parents, Robert Kemp, cabinetmaker, and Mary 
M^Kinnel. In ''The Siller Gun" its author makes John 
Gas pay a high compliment to the craftsman just named. 
An observer of the Trades' procession having inquired 

*' O wha amang the 'Wrights is he 
That seexDB for grace to bear the gree ?" 

receives the following reply from the well-informed barber : 

" It's Boby Kemp : in him you see. 
On virtue's plan, 
The traits of true nobility — 
An honest man !" 

We next come to a spacious compartment, twenty-two feet 
by fifteen, which wears an aspect that is at once antique 
and aristocratic Upon the floor are three slabs, one of them 
bearing characters nearly two centuries old, while a portion 
of the church wall which they adjoin is made florid by a 
flnely-carved escutcheon, whose familiar motto, ''Dominus 
Dedit," supplies a ready key to the necrology of the place. 
Some of the best families in the land count near kinship 
with the dust that lies below ; with it are associated also 
many notable persons and important national events. The 
train of thought that springs up as we survey the memorial 
stones takes in Mary Queen of Scots; her truest friend 
among the Scottish peers, John, sixth Lord Herries; her 
sweetest laureate, Bobert Bums; the chivalrous knight, 
Bobert, fourth Earl of Nithsdale, who in 1715 forfeited 
wealth, title, and nearly life itself in supporting the claims 
of her descendant to his ancestral throne ; together with the 
salient historical incidents which these names are fitted to 
suggest. 

In Buittle old churchyard, in the ancient choir of Terregles 
Church, and along the west wall of St. Michael's Cemetery 



IfEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 275 

(as has been already seen) many of the Nithsdale Maxwells 
have found a grave ; and others of them, belonging to the 
Munches and Terraughtie branch, lie interred in the section 
now under notice. To James Maxwell of Breckonside, 
second son of the famous Lord Herries, this branch owes its 
origin. By his wife Margaret, daughter of Vans of Bam» 
barroch, relict of Sir John (xordon of Lochinvar, he had 
two sons ; and if the tradition be true which states that this 
lady bore no fewer than twenty-nine children to her two 
husbands, she must have been by far the most prolific 
mother of whom there is any trace in our local annals. The 
nearest approach to her we have heard of was Mrs. Malcolm, 
whose tombstone, previously visited, states that she had pre- 
sented her husband, the Town-Clerk of Dumfries, with 
twenty-three children. John, son of James Maxwell, ap- 
pears next as laird of Breconside and Terraughtie; and 
passing over some intermediate links we reach the best 
known of the Terraughtie family, John, great-great-grand- 
son of Queen Mary's doughty champion, the intimate friend 
of Bums, and the veteran hero of one of the poet's best 
effusions. Being a younger son, he had no patrimony; he 
was therefore apprenticed to a joiner in Dumfries, and after 
acquiring that trade he prosecuted it with such success that 
he was able in 1754, while quite a young man, to purchase 
Terraughtie from John M^George of Cocklick, into whose 
hands it had fallen ; and to that estate he afterwards added, 
through the same money power, Portrack, in Holywood* 
fie married first Agnes, daughter of William Hannay, Dum- 
fries, who bore to him three sons and six daughters ; se- 
condly, Agnes Maxwell, who in 1793 succeeded her brother, 
George Maxwell, in Munches, and died in 1809, at the vener- 
able age of 90, without issue. She conveyed both Munches 
and Dinwoodie to her husband, who thus by degrees became 
a very extensive landowner, and he in 1813 executed an 
entail of the estates in favour of his children by Agnes 
Hannay. On the death of William Maxwell of Nithsdale, 
only son of the last Earl (whose escape from prison and 
X>ending death through the heroism of his Countess forms 



276 MEHOBIALS OF ST. XIGHAEL's. 

such a romantic episode in the history of the times), the de- 
scendant of Lord Herries became heir male to the other 
Maxwell peerage, and as such he was served heir to the 
fourth Earl on 4th June 1778. Fully a dozen years alter 
this date, when John Maxwell of Terraughtie was 71 years 
of age, Bums presented him with the celebrated Birthday 
Address, abounding with good wishes : 

" This day thou metes threesoore eleven. 
And I can tell that boonteous Heaven 
(The iiecond sight ye ken is given 

To ilka Poet) 
On thee a tack o' seven tunes seven 

Will yet bestow it. 

If envious buckles view wi' sorrow 

Thy lengthened days on this blest morrow, 

May desolation's lang-teeth'd harrow. 

Nine miles an hour, 
Bake them like Sodom and GomorraJi 

In brimstane stoure. 

But for thy friends — ^and they are mony, 
Baith honest men and lassies bonnie — 
May couthie fortune kind and cannie, 

In social glee, 
Wi* mornings blythe and e'enings funny 

Bless them and thee." 

Though the veteran thus addressed was come of a long-Kved 
race, and retained much of his pristine vigour tUl he had 
reached fourscore years and ten, his life-tack was less 
patriarchal in length than the bard — making his wish the 
parent of his prophecy — foretold. Mr. Maxwell, however, 
was only six years short of being a centenarian when he 
died, 25th January 1814. 

He was succeeded by his son Alexander; and it is in 
memory of the latter that the storied monumental crest al- 
ready referred to, with an accompanying epitaph, has been 
set up in the family burial ground. Bred to the medical 
profession, he married, first, Charlotte, daught^ of another 
physician, James Douglas, son of William Douglas of Kel- 
head ; secondly, in 1783, Marion, eldest daughter of William 
Gordon of Greenlaw, relict of William Elirkpatrick of Bae* 
berry. By his first spouse he had only one child, Charlotte, 
who died young ; by his second he had no issue ; and he 
was succeeded in Munches by Clementina, his niece, who 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 277 

married, in 1813, John Herries Maxwell of Bamcleuch, and 
succeeded to Munches, Dinwoodie, and Terraughtie on the 
death of her uncle, Alexander, and when she died, in 1858, 
she was succeeded by her son, the present Wellwood Herries 
Maxwell of Munches. 

The monument in memory of Alexander H. Maxwell dis- 
plays the family crest, with its two-headed eagle (Maxwell), 
its urcheons or hedgehogs and stag's head (Herries), with 
supporters, a savage holding a club on one side, and an 
antlered buck on the other : the mottoes being ''Eeviresco'' 
and "Dominus Dedit"— "The Lord Gave." Below is the 
following inscription, which brings well out the character of 
the deceased : 

** Sacred to the memory of Alexander Herries Maxwell of Munches, 
Esqliire, who died on the 28th of June 1815, in the 71st year of his 
age. Benevolent, frank, social, and warm-hearted, he was a steady 
and sincere friend, and always ready to advance the interests of 
tiiose who had any claim to his good offices. After a residence of 
thirty-six years in London, he relinquished the medical profession, 
m which he had been indefatigable, and retiring to the vicinity oi 
his native town, he devoted the remainder of his days to the exercise 
of his accustomed hospitality, the pursuit of agriculture, and the 
promotion of every plan for the improvement of the country. Thus 
was his life extensively useful and his death most deeply laQiented." 

On a tablet lower down appears the name of his second 
wife, " Mrs. Marion Grordon,'* who died at Terraughtie, 14th 
April 1839, at the same great age as her father-in-law, 94. 

One of the thrughs in the compartment is full of anti- 
quarian interest. Although the lettering is in relief, it is 
still sharp and only difficult to decipher because the char- 
acters and spelling are those which prevailed when Charles 
the Second was king. Crossing the stone in the usual way 
the following lines are cut : 

" Heir lyes James Maxwell, lait Sheref Clark in Drumfreis, who 
depairted this life the 31 of March anno domine 1679 of age 54." 

Accompanying this prosaic intimation, but running trans- 
verse to it, appears a laconic poetical homily in these terms : 

*'Flit hence envie debate and strife 
He's blessed who enjoyes a life 
Of heavenlie blessings great in stor 
With angels reigneing ever mor." 

Another of the slabs commemorates William, '' second son 



278 MEMOBIALS OF 8T. XICHABL's. 

to John Maxwell, Esq. of Temuightie,'' died 25th February 
1789, aged 43 ; Janet Syme, his spouse, died 6th May IBIO^ 
aged 63; and Agnes, their second daughter, who died at 
Arundale Honse^ 13th ])Cay 1869, when on the veige of 85. 
The third slab bears simply the initials M. M. and date 23d 
Aagost 1849. 

On a tablet affixed to the left of the chief monument ap- 
pears the name of a lady whose house in Buccleuch Street 
was long a place of fashionable resort, and from whence 
flowed a perennial well-spring of charity to the poor. Mies 
^^SSy Maxwell, as she was popularly called, was a fine 
specimen of the old Scottish gentlewoman, and those who 
remember her best will be the last to say that her virtues 
are exaggerated in the following epitaph: 

** In memory of Margaret, yoongeet daughter of John Maxwell of 
Terraughtie and Munches, who died in I>umfrie8 23d April 1849, 
94 yean. Intelligent, warm-hearted, generous to fnenda^ de- 



Toted and constant to the necessitous and afflicted, ever feehn^j 
liberal. Long ^e centre of an honoured circle, she merited and 
elicited esteem, respect, attachment. Leaving the world finally full 
of faith and hope in the merits of her Redeemer." 

Here we see the age 94 a third time repeated — ^first in the 

case of '' Maxwell's vet'ran chief," then in the case of his 

daughter-in-law, and next in that of his own daughter. 

There have been four chief-magistrates of the Burgh 
named Irving, all descended, we believe, from Francis 
Irviug, whose giund old monument, as it appears on the 
west wall of the Churchyard, was described in our first 
chapter. Near the spot where lie the Terraughtie Maxwells 
rests John Irving of Logan, Provost of ^^ Drumf ries,*' who 
was connected with them by marriage, Alexander Maxwell 
of Park, brother of John Maxwell of Breconside, having had 
for his second wife Janet, daughter of a preceding Provost 
Irving, who bore to him eight children. We first meet with 
the name John Irving as chief -ruler in 1660 ; it is repeated as 
such for a series of years beginning with 1668 ; and it ap- 
pears again in 1697. It was probably his son who in the 
following year became Provost, and is designated ''of 
Logan" on the venerable table monument now arrived at. 
Logan again occupied the civic chair in 1726-7-8. He todL a 



MEMpRiALs or ST. mighael's. 279 

leading part in the erection of the central Burgh building 
over which the Mid-Steeple presides. His death occurred 
28th November 1752, aged 85. The stone also commemo- 
rates his spouse, Elizabeth Irving, died 18th December 1768, 
aged 79 ; their daughters, Agnes, Marion, and Grizel, aged 
respectively 54, 36, and 54. 

Within the same compartment rises an imposing structure 
of Gothic design, dedicated to Logan's son-in-law, David 
Blair. The panel of the canopied recess tells us that he 
died 22d April 1784, aged 68 ; that his spouse Ann, daughter 
of Provost Irving, died in September 1819, aged 90 ; and 
that their niece, Janet Gracie, died 19th November 1837, 
aged 87. A massive oblong urn occupies the base of the 
recess, the plinth below which bears the names of Henrietta 
Georgiana, aged 14, and of Helen Wjndham Angelque, 
daughters of W. G. Johnstone of Garroch. 

For the last two hundred years at least, the name Gordon 
in connection with the legal profession, has been familiar in 
Dumfries. When Provost Crosbie was preparing to defend 
the Burgh from the threatened attack of " Kenmure's Lord," 
he (as noticed in connection with another monument) sent a 
deputation, including James Gordon, writer, to the Stewartry 
for assistance. On a neighbouring table tombstone we see 
the name and the business twice over associated, as follows : 
Bobert Gordon, writer, died 25th June, 1789, aged 31 ; and 
John Gordon, writer, died 24th June, 1805, aged 27. A table 
next to it bears the names of Bobert Gordon, tailor, died 12th 
February, 1794, aged 69 ; of Margaret Howat. his spouse, who 
lived till she was 86 ; and of Mary, their daughter, who died 
at the age of 73. 

Sundry members of the liquor trade, life's cup long since 
drained dry, lie buried in this section. Near the south-east 
comer of the Church rises a neat upright stone erected bjr 
Isabella Craig to commemorate her husband Andrew Thomp- 
son, spirit merchant, died 14th June 1850, aged 32 : it now 
beai*s her own name also, with that of her father John Craig, 
agent, died 15th August 1865, aged 69. On table-stones 
fmilier eastward we read of Humea Manderson, innkeeper. 



280 XEMOBIALS or 8T. XICHAJELS. 

died 30th Jmie 1799, aged 46, with her two jonthfol chil- 
dren and William M'llwrith, who died in infancy ; of James 
Johnstone, vintner, died 1st June 1798, aged 57, with his 
spouse Henrietta; and William Potter of the Crown Inn, 
died 23d July 1819, aged 40, who is honoured with the 
following epitaph : 

'* Endowed bj nature with an aetiTe and vigoroiis nnderatondiwg, 
ardent and constant in hii attachments, and endeared bj his affec- 
tionate temper to his family and friends, and possessing the esteem 
and confidence of a nnmeroos and respectable aoqnaintance.** \ 

Agnes Harris, wife of Andrew Bobertson, who carried on a 

large trade as a spirit-dealer, lies below a neighbouring stone 

of the same form ; she died 16th January 1810, age not stated^ 

Close by, a slab raised over the remains of Elizabeth, the child 

daughter of Charles Thompson, master in the Eoyal Navy, 

and probably related to Mr. Bobertson, bears the following 

lines ; — 

" Monm not for me, my parents dear, 
I am not dead but sleeping here ; 
My debt is paid, my grave you see, 
Wait but a wnile — ^you'U be with me.** 

To James Anderson, skinner, died 8th December 1848, 
aged 66, a very graceful monument is devoted, which over- 
looks a beautiful memorial cross cut in white marble by Mr. 
Flint, bearing the name of Jane Sutherland, died 13th April 
1872, aged 68. James Benwick, shoemaker, her husband, 
who still survives, occupied more than once the most promi- 
nent place in King Crispin's Walk, a pageant which used to 
be carried out very imposingly in Dumfries. When Mr. 
Benwick was at his best he made a good appearance, and we 
are old enough to recollect that when royally attired he last 
figured in the procession, he looked "every inch a king." 
This was in 1836 ; his deceased wife on that occasion holding 
a mimic court as Queen of the Crispinites. The pageant was 
renewed on 10th March 1863, in honour of the Prince of 
Wales's marriage ; at that time another man of stately aspect, 
Bobert Scott, now lying low under the dominion of Death,, 
personated the King. 

Shaded with funereal shrubs rises a neat monument com- 
memorating as follows the children and other relatives of the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 281 

late Mr. Little of Maryfield : Mary Johnstone Little^ died at 
Cheltenham^ aged 3, and there interred ; George, died at 
Maryfield, aged 3 ; Mary Johnstone, aged 6 ; John MTarlane, 
age 3 ; Eobert James, who died in infancy ; Mary Porteous, 
their aunt, died 12th March 1849, aged 36; also Charles 
Porteous, died at Maxwelltown, 9th April 1860, aged 31. 

Three family table-stones occupy a site adjoining, the 
oldest one bearing the following inscription, with the senti- 
ment of which, those who mourn for mothers departed, will 
especially sympathise : — 

*' To the memory of Elizabeth Macleod, wife of Alexr. Wylie, drag- 
gist in Dumfries, who died on the 2d day of May, 1792, in the 35tii 
year of her age, leaving seven children to deplore the loss of an 
affectionate mother, 'whose faithful discharge of every duty endeared 
her to all who knew her. Erected by her son, Henry "Wylie» on his 
revisiting Dumfries in 1817, after about 20 years absence, to mark 
the hallowed spot where her remains were deposited." 

The second stone commemorates Margaret Wylie, died 16th 
November 1801, aged 44 ; her husband, James Crosbie, 
merchant, who died in Edinburgh, 30th May 1822, aged 71, 
and was interred in Calton Hill burying-ground ; and Mary, 
daughter of William Crosbie in Gamrig of Kirkmichael, died 
at 20, Eobert, his son, died at 19, and Jessie, his daughter, 
at 31. On the third stone appears the name of George 
Crosbie of BowhiU and Queensberry in Ceylon, who amassed 
a fortune in that island, and returning home acquired Laurel- 
mount, where he breathed his last, 1st December 1867, while 
yet in the summer of existence, his age being 51. The 
inscription also includes Elizabeth Brown, second wife of 
James Crosbie, merchant, died 17th October 1809, aged 50 ; 
William Crosbie, his son, late in Gamrig, Elirkmichael, died 
24th November 1850, aged 68 ; and Mary Johnstone, spouse 
of the latter, died 17th November 1850, aged 69. 

The voyage of existence over, William M'GufFog, mariner, 
lies below a neighbouring table-stone, died 17th February 
1824, aged 73 ; also his spouse, Elizabeth Smith ; and their 
daughter Elizabeth, wife of Convener Howat, flesher, whose 
own monument has already been noticed ; she is truly stated 
to have been '' an affectionate wife, a tender mother, and a 
sincere friend." Their son Alexander, who died in the noon 



282 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

of life, 2dth September 1832, is also commemorated in the 
inscriptioii. 

On the next altar-stone appears the following quaint yet 
well-expressed inscription : 

*' Here lys the rem&inB of Helena Maxwell, relict to Bobert Fer- 
gosBon of Hallhill, who, upon the 23d May 1773, was released from 
the burdens of mortality and calmly entered into her Master's joy in 
the 68 year of her age. Also rests here the dust of Anna Maxwell, 
daughter of the deceasM Bobert Maxwell, Esq., late of Hazlefield, 
who left this mortal state on the 12th Sept. 1777. aged 76 years. 
Here also rests the dust of Lucia MaxwelL late oi Hazlefielc^ and 
relict of Dr. Alex. M'Kie, Jamaica, who died the 16th of Aug., 1790, 
aged 79 years. 

Friend after friend from thee is torn away, 

No year — ^scarce month — ^but marks some mournful day. 

Also her daughter, Mrs Lucia Aitken, relict of the Bev. James 
Finnan, mudster of Irongray, who died January 1803, ased 63 years. 
Also Mrs Gordon M'Kie, wife of CoL Pleydell, who died 6th Auguat 
1821, aged 74 years." 

With the saddlery business of the Burgh, a name we see 

on the next table-stone was for many years identified. It 

commemorates John Coulthai'd, whose establishment, situated 

in the comer between English Street and Queen Street, was 

adorned outside, by an equinal figure, like the one with whiclx 

Troy was taken, but not just so big ; and which premises, as 

occupied in the same line by Mr. Fallas, stiU boast of a 

similar ornament. Mr. Coulthard died 24th August 1829, 

age not given. Mention is also made on the monument of 

his wives Elioner Stainton and Isabella Grieves, and five of 

his children, including Joseph, died 17th April 1830, age not 

stated ; Grizel Himter, his third wife, died 16th March 

1841, at the advanced age of 82 ; and of Isabella Young, wife 

of David Coulthard, saddler, died 17th April 1830. 

No fewer thai^ three booksellers lie in this neighbourhood : 
William Chalmers, who mmibered Bailie Sinclair among his 
apprentices, died 24th Jime 18l3, aged 63 ; AJlan Anderson, 
died 25th May 1862, aged 78 ; and Wellwood Eichardson, w;ho, 
though a Dumfries man, carried on business at Annan, where 
he died 11th January 18*74, aged 70. Mr. Eichardson was a 
most indefatigable collector of old quaint books. He had 
stored up several thousand volumes, modem and antiquei 
putting a special value upon all of the black letter sort, 



HEUOBIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 283 

*' With close-prest leaves unolosed for many an age, 
The dull, red edging of the well-filled page. 
On whose broad back the stubborn ridges rolled, 
Where yet the title stood in burnished gold.'* 

Though by no means a learned man^ or even particularly 
devoted to literature, Dominie Sampson had no greater pas- 
sion for rare old tomes than Wellwood Bichardson, and, like 
that famous pedagogue, he was simplicity itself, and ready to 
part with his last shilling in the way of charity. A neat 
monument facing the north walk rises to his memory, and 
that of his wife, Jannet Mien, and their youthful daughter 
Nicholas. 

His brother, William Eichardson, draper, afterwards sherifF- 
offioer, died 9th October 1849, aged 49 ; his wife, Ann Aitken, 
and their daughter Jean, aged 8, lie beneath an adjoin- 
ing table, the inscription on which states that '^he was an 
affectionate husband, father, and friend.'' 

Further east a large double monument rises in memory of 
their uncle, Bumside Eichardson, whose extensive brokery 
premises in Church Square looking down High Street long 
formed a familiar feature of tliat locality just as the sonsie 
presence of their worthy occupant was well-known through- 
out the Burgh for many years before his death, which oc- 
curred 5th July 1852, aged 73. "He was an affectionate 
husband and kind father." His wife, Jannet Kerr; their 
son-in-law, William Corrie, who died at Carlisle, 13th October 
1868, aged 62 ; and William, son of the above, are named in 
the inscription. A separate epitaph is devoted to William, 
youngest son of Bumside Eichardson, cut off, 6th October 
1847, when he had just entered on his teens ; and which 

runs thus : — 

" Here rests our William's mortal frame, 
We mourn his early doom. 
But Christian hope aspires to claim 
His triumph o'er the tomb." 

Ann Byers, second wife of Burnside Eichardson, died 27th 
April 1875, aged 82, is also named upon the monument. 

A venerable slab in front of the first-mentioned Eichard- 
son monument bears to have been erected by '^ the heirs of 
William Mundell, late treasurer in this Brough, 1716.'' It 



284 MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHASL's. 

was, no doubt, intended that an obituary notice of the 
deceased should appear upon it, but that design remains 
unfulfilled, and the original supports of the memorial having 
given way, it lies flat upon the ground. We find an interest- 
ing minute in the Session-books regarding this particular 
portion of the Cemetery, its owner and occupant, of date 6th 
October 1712 : it is in the following terms : " The qlk day a 
petition given in by William Mundell, merchant in this 
Burgh, craving the grant of a buriall place in the church- 
yeard, being read and heard, considered petition, and view- 
ing the place in the churchyeard, and finding it vacant, 
granted it to the said William, allowing him to enter into 
the possession of three graves by laying three grave stones 
on the samen, or other ways as he shall see fit, in a room 
lying on the north comer of the M'Brair's isle ; also two of 
the grave stones are to ly, one at the other end, bounded 
with the common road that goes to the nether end of the 
churchyeard on the north parte, and the third grave stone is 
to ly on the south side of the uppermost grave stone that 
lys next the comer of the M'Brair's isle." 

Table tombstones commemorate WUliam Hill, merchant, 
died 2d October 1740, aged 86, with Margaret Thomson, his 
spouse ; James Callander, merchant, son of James Callander 
of Brockloch, died 8th May 1791, aged 69, with Mary Hill, 
his spouse, and William, their infant child ; Janet Gullen, 
spouse of John Wilson, merchant, and daughter of the Bev. 
Gabriel Gullen, died 28th July 1787, aged 62 ; two infant 
children of William Johnston, merchant, also Thomas Lut- 
terick, died 22d January 1823, aged 70, with Daniel, his son, 
died 24th December 1823, aged 39 ; John Gibson, tailor, died 
August 17th l7-€, aged 72 — the inscription included other 
names which are now illegible ; James Johnston, joiner, died 
20th November 1786, aged 44, with Elizabeth Henderson, his 
spouse, and several children ; Henry Wilkinson, another joiner, 
died July 26th 1762, aged 62 ; James Allan, painter, died 
11th October 1773, aged 22 ; William Barry, brewer, died at 
Priestlands, 3d June 1841, aged 84, with his wife, Elizabeth 
Brand ; John Little, died 7th July 1812, aged 57, with 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 285 

Margaret Cuimnings, his wife, and two of their children who 
died young ; Susan Audrey Kemeys, spouse to Robert Eiddell 
of Carzield, and fourth daughter of Reginald Kemeys of 
Bartholy, Monmouthshire, "She died 5th November 1800, 
aged 63 years, and lies interred below this monument, near 
the remains of three of her children, who died in a state of 
infancy ;" while on a thrugh we read of Jane Charteris, wife 
of Samuel Bell, died 26th January 1848, aged 61, and three 
of their infant children. 

Scattered up and down in this sub-division we find head- 
stones which commemorate the following : Sergeant Francis 
Little, died 14th April 1839, aged 55, with Margaret Pater- 
son, his spouse, and six of their children, four of whom were 
infants, Ann died at 25, Francis at 35, also Francis M'Kinnon 
died at 7, and Jane Pringle at 22, grandchildren of Ser- 
geant Little ; William Roddan, weaver, died 8th June 1794, 
aged 61, with Grizel Kirkpatrick, his spouse ; William 
Anderson, another weaver, died at Gasstown 4th August 
1838, aged 59, with Mary Johnston, his spouse ; Robert 
Smith, tailor, died 3d October 1832, with Jane Graham, his 
wife, and five children, the oldest of whom was David, a 
sailor boy ; William Roddan, died 17th October 1867, aged 
84, with Agnes, his wife ; Agnes Johnston, wife of John, 
Roddan, cooper, died 29th April 1865, aged 64, with an 
infant granddaughter ; John Anderson, died 10th June 1837, 
aged 66, with two young children, and an infant grandson ; 
Charles Kirkpatrick, smith, died 19th June 1873, aged 71, 
with Janet Hotson, his spouse, and their son, William, died 
27th April 1867, aged 35 ; Thomas Knowles, shoemaker, died 
4th January 1834, aged 65, with Margaret Graham, his wife 
— ^Thomas, their son, of the same trade, died 25th November 
1837, aged 33, with his wife Agnes M'Haffie; Margaret, 
daughter of Thomas Knowles, jun., died at 21, and an infant 
daughter; two children, Edward and Elizabeth, the sole 
issue of William and Barbara Quaile ; William and John, 
the infant of&pring of Robert Selkirk, the last Beacon of the 
Fleshers under the old incorporated system. 






BEHIND THB CHUBCH — OONTINUED. 



iTirr AVING now crossed over the upper part of this sub- 
jil J^ division to where it is bounded by the footpath on 
^'^ the north, we tarn and pass southward, noticing tbe 
stones that lie in our way, and shall afterwards travel some- 
what irregularly from side to side, giving the results in 
succeeding chapters till the footpath is reached which forms 
the eastern boundary of the section. 

Altar monuments abound, the favourite style of memorial 
for the middle classes during the last and early portion of the 
present century. Stones of this form commemorate the 
following merchants, with their wives or other relatives: 
John Maxwell, died 27th April 1802, aged 32, with his two 
wives, Dorothea Clark and Margaret Martin, and four of his 
children by the former, including Euphemia, aged 22, and 
William, who died at Liverpool, aged 17 ; Walter Neilson, 
died 31st January 1737, aged 75, with Margaret his spouse ; 
William Anderson, burgess, died 2l8t February 1789, aged 
63, with Ann Thomson his spouse ; Gilbert Grierson died 12th 
January 1800, aged 50, with Janet Anderson his spouse ; 
two John Thomsons (probably father and son), one of them 
" innkeeper and burgess of this Burgh,'* died 25th January 
1723, aged 52, the other a merchant, died 23d March 1786, 
aged 82, with his spouse Elizabeth Yeitch, and their youthful 
son, " chyr," or surgeon's apprentice ; also, James (probably a 
brother of the second John Thomson), died 16th March 1811, 
aged 79. 

We read of the following tradesmen and others on other 
table-stones : John Blain, joiner, died 8th October 1801, aged 
59, with Susanna Muir, his wife, Susan Blain, spouse of 
William Creighton, shoemaker, died 28th June 1819, aged 
24, with William, their infant son ; William Anderson, 
burgess, died 21st February 1789, aged 63, with Ann Thom- 
son, his spouse ; James Wilson, mason, died 20th June 1833, 
aged 53, with Jean Dunbar, his spouse, and their two sons, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 287 

Thomas and Johu^ both of wliom plied mallet and chisel, 
the former dying at Saffron- Waldon, Essex, 8th August 
1835, aged 32, the latter at Pendlebeny, near Manchester, 
16th July 1845, aged 36; Walter Neilson, merchant, died 
31st January 1737, aged 75, with Margaret, his spouse ; 
Isobel Neilson, spouse to Greorge Young, merchant, died 
20th September 1777, aged 41, Henrietta, daughter of 
Bobert Young, died 7th December 1837, aged 53 ; Wil- 
liamina, daughter of Thomas Carrenes, baker, aged 3 ; 
Isabella Bogerson, spouse of John Spence, died 9th June 
1827, aged 55, with Mary, their daughter, died at 14. 

Two respected Deacons of the Hammermen are kept in 
memory by handsome monuments — one being Eobert Nichol- 
son, blacksmith, died 17th December 1818, aged 52, his 
spouse, Elizabeth Dickson, with a numerous progeny, lying 
beside him, including William and Janet, aged respec- 
tively 33 and 62; the other i'oseph Lancaster, saddler, 
died 1st December 1839, aged 64, with Janet Johnstone, his 
wife, their son John, of the same trade, who died at 23, their 
daughters, Sarah, died at 10, Grizall at 20, Janet, wife of 
Eobert Herries, joiner, died 16th September 1840, aged 31, 
with three others, who died when young. 

In a neighbouring plot rises a neat monument in me- 
mory of Thomas Baird, manufacturer, Marion Dickson, 
his wife, and Charles Baird, their son, with others of their 
family, the dates given being rather vague. Thomas is 
stated to have been bom in 1773, and died in 1823, and 
Charles to have been bom in 1797, and died in December 
1855. The latter was a respected and accomplished gentle- 
man, who long ably officiated as Sheriff Clerk of Dumfries- 
shire. There is a slab within the same compartment in 
memory of Henry Dickson, vintner, died 26th September 
1807, age not stated ; his spouse Catherine Fergusson, died 
15th June 1799, aged 75 ; their daughter Margaret, aged 
25, and other children who died yoimg. 

On two venerable stones of tabular form we notice the 
name John Fraser of Laggan twice repeated. Mr. Fraser, 
the elder, died 11th January 1726, aged 84; while his 



288 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

wife, Barbara Fergusson, is stated to have died so far 
back as 22d May 1698. Hugh Eraser, son of the former, 
we believe, died 20th May 1728, aged 37 ; his wife, Marion 
Irving, is also named in the inscription. The second 
John Eraser of Laggan died 3d April 1776, aged 51. 
Another neighbouring proprietor Mark Johnston of Stone- 
house and his spouse, EHzabeth Oliver, are borne in remem- 
brance by a handsome monument. He lived to be fourscore 
years and four, his death occurring 19th March 1848. Wil- 
liam Johnston and Jean Nicholson his spouse lie below a 
thrugh in front, from the faded inscription on which we learn 
with difficulty that the former died 6th August 1791, aged 68. 

Near by rises a somewhat imposing monument in memory 
of Samuel Blaind, a highly respected draper in Dumfries, 
and several of his connectiona The urn and sarcophagus 
with the drapery cast over these emblematic vessels by which 
the entablature is adorned, though rather heavy-looking, are 
gracefully chiselled. Mr. Blaind died 2d January 1860, aged 
63 ; two of his children, cut off when young are named in 
the inscription ; and there is a separate tablet '^ In remem- 
brance of the late Mrs. M. H. Blaind, who died 2d June 
1846, in her 48th year." To the memory of his father of the 
same name and occupation, died 3d September, 1836, aged 
71 ; and Mary Kelly, his mother, a table tombstone is 
devoted. Besides dealing in drapery wares Mr. Samuel 
Blaind, senior, was for many years the most extensive furrier 
in the South of Scotland. There are also named upon the 
monument several other children, including Agnes died at 
18, John at 19, Adam Blaind, draper, died 7th June 1846, 
aged 40 ; also Sarah Grordon Crosbie, spouse of Samuel 
Blaind, jun., died 23d December 1829, aged 27. 

As has already been pointed out, not a f ewDumfriesians, who 
rose to distinction in the British Possessions abroad, slumber 
in St. Michael's, or have memorial stones allotted to them 
within its precincts. One of these worthy subjects of " the 
Southern Queen** was Alexander Young, who " pursuing for- 
tune's sliddery ba," with success in the Bahamas, became 
Speaker of the House of Assembly, New Provid^ice, and died 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 269 

at Nassau, in that island, 6th September 1813, at the 
early age of 40. His name appears on one of a series 
of three table monuments, which we now arrive at, the 
other names upon them including those of George Young, 
▼intner, died 16th September 1780, aged 44, with Isabella 
Smith his wife (the parents of the Colonial Speaker) ; 
Samuel M'Kune, baker, died 29th September 1825, aged 56, 
with Henrietta Young, his spouse ; and Bobert Young, baker 
and flour dealer, died 25th November 1822, aged 51. 

Alexander Johnstone, who rose to eminence in another 
sphere abroad, receives commemoration from a more ambi- 
tious structure. He was for many years connected with the 
British Medical Establishment in Madras; and dying at 
Edinburgh 28th December 1831, aged 51, was buried below 
the handsome monument we have now reached, which also 
rises in remembrance of Barbara M'Leod, his wife, daughter 
of Colonel M'Leod, died at Madras 17th October, 1828. 
Overshadowed by funereal bushes in the same enclosure rises 
another stone dedicated to Samuel Johnstone, joiner, died 
20th August, 1795, aged 42 ; his wife, Janet Armstrong, 
with several of their children. Begarding him it is said : 
'^He was a loving husband, an affectionate parent, and a 
sincere friend." 

Joseph Fergusson, who early in the century carried on a 
good business as painter and glazier, receives commemoration 
from a very handsome monument ; as do his wife, Nicholas 
Hair, and their three children (whose ages are not recorded), 
James died at Toronto. 1st July 1836, William in London, 
80th January 1870, and Janet, 26th February 1872. Mr.^ 
Fergusson, senior, died 18th May 1820, aged 64. 

Bight in front of the neat monument to Allan Anderson,, 
bookseller, already noticed, lies a thrugh bearing the name 
of Andrew Wilson, baker, died 27th July 1784, aged 38 ; 
another similar stone near by commemorates Alexander 
M'Quhae, slater, died 16th March 1841, aged 56, with Isabella 
Duff, his spouse, and their daughter Isabella, aged 56. In the 
same neighbourhood there appears a neat little altar-stone, 
dedicated to two children, Margaret died at 3 and John at 1,. 



(( 



290 MEMORIALS OF 8T. MICHASL's. 

the offspring of John Malcolm, the efficient Superintendent 
of the Burgh Police. 

For a long time past most of the Dumfries dealers in 
second-hand goods have belonged to the Sister Island ; and 
among the most respectable of these was Peter M'Cluskey, 
a decent, unsophisticated sou of Erin, who carried on a large 
business as a broker in Friars' Vennel, and afterwards in 
Chapel Street. He lies under a table-stone, died 29th 
March 1854, aged 70 ; his wife, Mary Stewart, being buried 

beside him. 

A venerable torab-stone near by preserves the name of Bailie 
William Fiugaaa, who bore magisterial rule about two hun- 
dred years ago. His age at death is not stated, but he 
departed this life thfe 5th day of May, anno 1686.'' His 
wife, Isobell Johnston, who outlived him till 27th December 
1719, aged 79, is mentioned in the inscription ; also a 
descendant, Anna Grieve, daughter of James Grieve, mer- 
chant, in Dumfries. The lady died 11th of December, 1813, 
at the early age of 19. To her memory the following affect- 
ing tribute is paid : 

"Epitaphe. 

Ta main bienfaisiinte et ch^rie 

D'un exile vint esuyer les pleurs 

Tume viis lieu de parens dc patrie 

Et le meme tombeau lorsque tumes ravie 

Renferuie nos deux coeurs." 

During the war with France, which terminated at Water- 
loo, a coudidfcrable number of prisoners from that country 
resided on their parole in Dumfries ; one of whom endured a 
double captivity, so to speak, having ' been enslaved " in 
love's willing fetters" by the charms of Miss Anna Grieve. 
She acted in no tyrant fashion to him, however ; and it is 
probable that if she had lived they would have been 
married, as he seems to have been of good position, and 
every way worthy of her hand. When "fell death's un- 
timely frost" nipt the gallant Frenchman's flower, just as 
she was blooming into womanhood, he was overwhelmed with 
distress, under the influence of which he penned the epitaph 
we have quoted. After the lapse of about forty-six years, a 
gentleman of dignified bearing, and seemingly about seventy 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 291 

years old, entered St. MichaeFs Churchyard, and in some- 
what broken English, politely accosted Mr. Watson, who was 
busy with his chisel at one or other of the monuments we 
have already noticed. The stranger asked to be shown the 
spot where Mademoiselle Grieve lay interred, and on being 
taken to it he exhibited great emotion. He read over the 
epitaph, which was quite familiar to him, as it soon trans- 
pired that it was also engraved on the tablet of his memory, 
he being none other than the lover of the lady whose remains 
lay below, and for whom, though nearly half a century had 
elapsed, he still retaiped his old attachment. His passion for ^ 
the pretty girl who won his youthful heart had withstood the 
influence of time, and survived M the vicissitudes of his 
career, his experience being such as is described by the poet : 

** Love is a plant of holier birth 
Than any that takes its root on earth ; 
A flower from Heaven which 'tis a ctime 
To number with the things of time ; 
Hope in the bud is often blasted 
And beauty on the desert Toasted ; 
Aj)d joy a primrose early gay 
Care's lightest footfall treads away ; 
But Love shall live and live for ever 
And chance and change shall reach it never." 

The stranger, whose name we know not, remained for a 
considerable period beside the tomb where lay the treasure of 
his heart, and then tearing himself away he left the place, 
first thanking his kind conductor for the courtesy that had 
been shown to him. The epitaph may be thus translated : 

Thy kind and beloved hand wiped th^ tears of an exile : in thee I 
found my relations, my country ; «nd the same grave, when thou art 
torn from me, contains our two hearts. 

The name of Isobel McMillan also appears upon the monu- 
ment, died 18th May 1834, aged 85, A very similar epitaph 
in French is engraved upon another stone in the Cemetery, 
which we have already copied. 

John Ewart, died 2d January 1*767, aged 54, who belonged 
to a family of merchants, and was nearly related to the 
Ewarts of Mulock, sleeps below a neighbouring table, to- 
gether with his wife, Bridget Batley, seven of their ofispring, 
whose ages are not given, also their daughter Bridget, died 



292 MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHAEL^S. 

at 29, the wife of '^ Andrew Smith, Esq. of Crochmore," and 
a bailie of the Burgh, died 30th December 1800, aged 56, 
with Bobert, their son, died 2d February 1773, age not 
recorded. 

Under a neighbouring altar-stone lie James Milligao, mer- 
chant, died in 1796, aged 68, Jean Nicholson, his spouse, 
their daughter Jean, died at 6, their son James, a Liverpool 
merchant, died in London 1st April 1826, aged 61, another 
son John, a respected hosiery manufacturer, dated llth 
December 1839, aged 69, with Agnes McCartney, his spouse, 
and their daughter Agnes, who died at 6. 

Memories of Bums are awakened by the inscriptions 
which we read on two stately stones placed within a 
chained enclosure. One of the monuments preserves 
the names of John Oughterson of Milnthird, died at 
Dumfries llth February 1779, aged 70; of Margaret 
Sproat, his spouse, died 24th January 1823, aged 79 ; of 
Mary, their daughter, spouse of Samuel Clark, junior, 
writer, died I7th January 1800, aged 26 ; and of their son 
John, who died in childhood. The other table is in memory 
of the said '^ Samuel Clark, jun., conjunct Commissary Clerk 
and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Dumfries/' died 
19th August 1814, aged 45>; of Margaret Elizabeth Glad- 
stone, his granddaughter, who died in infancy; and Mary 
Wight, his daughter, died 26th July 1861, aged 63. With 
Samuel Clark, who lies here interred. Burns was on very 
familiar terms. On one Saturday night, sometime in 1794, 
they met along with other gentlemen of the town at the 
festive board. After the bottle had passed freely round, the 
conversation turned upon politics, with a special reference to 
the political aspects of the war which Great Britain was then 
waging against the French Bepublic. Some military officers 
who were present, including^ Captain Dods, indulged in 
lavish professions of loyalty at the expense of the Democrats 
across the Channel, upon which the poet, who, as is well 
known, s3rmpathiBed with the Gallican Bepublic, proposed as 
a toast, " May our success in the present war be equsd to the 
goodness of our cause." A violent scene ensued. Captain 



HBMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 293 

Dods applied some strong expressions to Barns, the precise 
words of which are unknown, but it is understood they were 
to the effect that the man who could propose such a toast 
could not be loyal to his king. Burns retorted furiously, 
and had not Mr. Clark and other mutual friends interfered, 
the quarrel which began in hot words might have ended in 
blows, or at all events in a duel some other day. On the 
following morning the poet addressed a letter to Mr. Clark, 
stating that if he had had nobody's welfare to care for but 
his own, the expressions made use of by Captain Dods to 
him would, " according to the manners of the world," have 
necessitated a resort to pistols. " But," he proceeded to say, 
" I am still pleased to think that I did not ruin the peace 
and welfare of a wife and family of children in a drunken 
squabble. Further, you know that the report of certain 
political opinions being mine has already once before brought 
me to the brink of destruction. I dread lest last night's 
business may be misinterpreted in the same way. You, I 
beg, will take care to prevent it. I tax your wish for Mrs. 
Burns's welfare with the task of waiting as soon as possible 
on every gentleman who was present, and state this to him, 
and, as you please, shew him this letter." Burns further 
stated in it that "the most outrageous frenzy of loyalty 
oould not object to the toast he had proposed." 

None of the many biographers of Burns has properly 
identified the gentleman to whom this important letter was 
addressed. Robert Chambers allocated it to Mr. Stephen 
Clarke, jun., a teacher of music in Edinburgh ; and the Rev. 
P. H. Waddell, in correcting the mistake, speaks vaguely of 
Mr. Clark as "a resident in Dumfries, who occupied an 
important legal position there, as Assessor, if we mistake not, 
in the Burgh." From the Stone Book of St. Michael's, 
written with iron pen, we have already drawn some fresh 
information about the natiomd poet and his associates ; and 
the words quoted from it above, " Samuel Clark, jun., con- 
junct Commissary Clerk and Clerk of the Peace for the 
County of Dumfries," will suffice to set m rest all contro- 
Tersy about the name and designation of the bosom friend to 



294 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

whom the national bard could write on a delicate matter in 
such confidential terms. 

Their extreme intimacy is further illustrated by a second 
epistle, undated, addressed by the poet to '^Mr. Samuel 
Clark, jun.," which appeared for the first time in Mr. 
Waddell's magnificent edition of Bums, and which is in the 
following terms : — " My Dear Sir, I recollect something of a 
drunken promise yesternight to breakfast with you this 
morning. I am very sorry that it is impossible. I remem- 
ber too your very obligingly mentioning something of your 
intimacy with Mr. Corbet, our Supervisor-General. Some of 
our folks about the Excise Office, Edinr., had and perhaps 
still have conceived a prejudice against me, as being a 
drunken dissipated character. I might be all this, you 
know, and yet be an honest fellow ; but you know that I am 
an honest fellow, and am nothing of this. You may, in your 
own way, let him know that I am not unworthy of subscrib- 
ing myself, my Dear Clark, your friend, R. Burns." 

Upon this ingenuous effusion Mr. Waddell, who was in- 
debted for a copy of it to Mrs. Stewart Gladstone of Capenoch, 
comments as follows : '' The letter, although without date, re- 
fers manifestly to the melancholy epoch when he was in danger 
of dismissal for his politics, and when every other slander 
that could be imagined was circulated to his disadvantage 

and dishonour Who that loves honesty and hates 

injustice can refrain from smiles, from tears of indignation 
on reading this letter? How 'drunken' then could the 
promise be that was consistent with so distinct a recollec- 
tion ? but how cruel must the calumny have been that oould 
drive the immortal subscriber to an appeal like this ! llie 
letter itself we have had the satisfaction of carefully inspect- 
ing. It bears no trace whatever of recent dissipation. The 
pen has been a little rough, but the hand is strong and 
steady, as it always was ; and the utmost minuteness, both 

in orthography and punctuation, is manifest. 

Brief, suggestive, and beautiful, this unerring note is 
one of the finest specimens of epistolary writing for a 
given object imaginable. Without effort, display, or circom- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 295 

location, but with the utmost delicacy and adroitness it goes 
direct to the heart of a disagreeable and disgi*acefiil subject. 
The writer unreservedly avowing all, and anticipating all, 
appeals beyond the possibility of evasion to the very conscious- 
ness of the man he is addressing ; and stakes by a single turn 
of the pen his own reputation with the world on his worthi- 
Hess of that man's friendship. The most accomplished artist 
in style, after weeks of the soberest coi^ideration, and with 
reams of blundered manuscript before him, could do nothing 
finer. Upon the whole, we may pronounce this document 
conclusive. Kobert Bums, in fact, notwithstanding his so- 
called ' drunken promise,' was no more drunken or dissipated 
in the injurious sense of these terms than Mr Clark himself, 
a gentleman of the highest respectability in Dumfries, might 
be Thanks, Mrs Gladstone, for such brief testi- 
mony, not too late ; and we beseech you. Madam, to preserve 
this document with religious care as the most invaluable 
personal deposition to the public morality of one of the great- 
est of men.'' 

Though this commentary is needlessly overstrained, it is 
we think, substantially just. The fact is now beginning to be 
all but universally admitted that '^Buins never became 
habitually intemperate, or a lover of the bottle for its own 
sake," though '^his extreme sociality often led him into 
excess." 

Mrs Gladstone is the daughter of Burns's bosom friend. 
Miss Belle Clark, another daughter, was married to Dr Henry 
Duncan's eldest son, the late Eev. Dr George John C. Duncan, 
derk to the English Presbyterian Church. She was the 
authoress of a very ingenious and clever work " Pre- Adamite 
Man." Mr. Clark was associated professionally with his father, 
Samuel Clark, senior, and his mother was MLary Wight, 
daughter of the Bev. Bobert Wight, minister of St Michael's, 
1731-1764. 

The name Callan, a rare one in the district, appears repeat- 
^dljf as follows, on a group, consisting of a table and two 
headstones : Thomas Callan, a mason of the last century, who 
died 24th February 1802, aged 58, with Margaret Blain, his 



296 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL*8. 

spouse ; Robert, their son. also a mason, died in the island of 
Jersey, Ist October 1812, aged 37 : a seci/nd, Thomas Gallan, 
of the same trade, died 11th September 1843, aged 61 ; 
with Jean Brown, his spouse ; a third of the same name, 
and a sou of the latter, but a cabinetmaker by occupation, 
who died at Annan, 20th November 1873, aged 53, with 
his wife, Helen Bomney, who died at Carlisle: as respects 
the two latter, it is added, ''and are here interred.* 
Robert Love, who married Thomas Callan's daughter, Janet, 
is also buried beside the rest of the family. He died 26th 
March 1859, at the venerable age of 82. We recollect him 
well as a pleasant, intelligent man, who made a decent liveli- 
hood by honing razors at a period when shaving was all but 
universal. I^e was particularly fond of discussing politics 
from a Radical standpoint, and often his gibes at borough- 
mongers and pinecurists were not less incisive than the 
weapons which he sharpened. His wife and their daughter 
Jane, aged 30, are also named upon the altar-stone. 

On a stone of tabular shape several relatives of the late 
Bailie Thomas D. Currie of Clerkhill are commemorated : 
Thomas Dickson, baker, died 28tti January 1805, aged 81, 
with Elizabeth Clark his spouse ; Mary, their daughter, 
died at 24, Janet, another daughter, spouse of James M'Kay, 
died 19th December 1832, aged 78, and James, their son, 
died 26th March 1787, aged 31. Also Jonathan Currie, 
cattle-dealer, son-in-law of the said Janet Dickson (and father 
of Bailie Currie), died 19th September 1814, aged 31 ; John 
Nicholson, currier (the latter's stepfather), died 26th March 
1840, aged 62, Helen, his daughter, aged 8; and ''Mrs. Maiy 
Nicholson, spouse of the above John Nicholson, formerly 
spouse of Jonathan Currie," an intelligent lady, who was 
fully four-FCore when she died, 19th February 1863. A 
memorial stone near by rises as a tribute to Bailie Currie's 
only son, Thomas Dickson Fergusson, who died in infancy 
31st December 1861 ; and to Polly, eldest daughter of Captain 
R H. Tulloch, died at Clerkhill House, 10th December 1878 
— cut off after seeing seventeen summers "when in the very 
May-mom of delight." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 297 

On a handsome headstone we find the name of Isabella 
JohnstoDe, wife of Thomas Dickie, draper, died 10th June 
1840, aged 32 ; also the names of their children, William 
died at 21, John at 18, and two others cut off in infancy. 
Mr. Thomas Dickie, who lies buried beside his second wife 
in St. Mary's Cemetery, was an intelligent public-spirited 
citizen ; he was for three years a bailie of the Burgh, 
and was for eleven years chairman of the Parochial 
Board, the duties of which he discharged with remarkable 
zeal and ability. He died 9th June 1866. About five 
years before Mr. Dickie's death a number of the ratepayers 
recognised his services by entertaining him at a public 
dinner, on which occasion Mr. Martin, Town-.Clerk, the 
chairman, closed a suitable speech by happily applying the 
words of the Psalmist to their honoured guest, " Blessed is 
he who wisely doth the poor man's case consider." The 
Parochial Board is at present ably presided over by his suc- 
cessor, Mr. Alexander Crombie, architect. 

We next reach a chain-protected plot where lie John 
Gregan, long a leading tradesman of the Burgh ; his spouse, 
Janet Edgar, and several of their children. Mr. Gregan was 
bom at Preston Mill, Kirkbean, came to Dumfries when 
quite young, and in 1798 he joined with the late Bailie 
Creighton in starting a cabinet-making and upholstery 
business at Clerkhill, which eventually became the greatest 
establishment of the kind in Scotland, south of the Forth 
and Clyde. To their other occupations was added that of 
house carpentry, the joiner work of the new Assembly 
Booms, and many mansions in Castle Street and other parts 
of the town and in the suburbs, having been executed by 
the firm. They helped to build the houses, and supplied 
such sumptuous furnishings for them, if required, as few 
provincial tradesmen of their day were able to emulate. Mr. 
Gregan was not only an excellent craftsman^ but a gentleman 
of great general intelligence, and in every sense a good 
member of society. He was on very intimate terms with 
Allan Cunningham, whose bride was wooed and won at the 
little village where the former first saw the light; and he 



298 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

had much friendly as well as busineas intercourse with the 
ingenious Patrick Miller of Dalswinton. Mr. Gregan died 8tk 
December 1853, when in his 83d year. The neat table monu- 
ment, which bears his name, commemorates also his spouse, 
Janet Edgar, sprung from a family that has been settled in 
Carlaverock for seven centuries. She died 26th December 
1827, aged 58. One of their sons is our philanthropic towns- 
man Mr. William Gregan, who .carries on the old business at 
Clerkhill and High Street with undiminished vigour and 
success. Another son, John Edgar Gregan, distinguished aa 
an architect, died 29th April 1855, aged 42, and lies beside 
his parents ; as du two others — a second John Gregan and 
Bobert Edgar Gregan — who died in infancy. 

After Mr. John E. Gregan had served his apprenticeship 
with Mr. Walter^ewall, he went to Manchester as assistant 
to W. T. Atkinson, whom he succeeded in business in 1840. 
His career in that city, his professional eminence and his 
public services are so well described in The Imj>erial 
Dictionary of Universal Biography that we cannot do better 
than copy its notice of him, which is as follows : — " Mr. 
Gregan was a man of great industry as well as marked 
ability, and his merits found speedy recognition. Many of 
the buildings which during the next fifteen years so greatly 
altered the architectural character of Manchester were 
designed by him. Among them are Heywood's bank, a very 
stately and well-finished building of Venetian character ; 
several of the palatial warehouses which are so striking a 
feature of the city ; the Mechanics' Institution ; the Jews' 
Schools ; the Park Lodges ; chapels at Ancoats, Green 
Heys, and several private residences of a superior order. 
He also erected churches, chapels, and schools, chiefly in the 
Gothic style, at Bolton, Cheshire, Preston, &c. Besides his 
immediately professional attainments, Mr. Gregan possessed 
considerable knowledge of the arts, and was active in pro- 
moting the local schools of design, the formation of a free 
library, and literary institutions generally. He was a fellow 
of the Institute of Architects.'^ 

With the extinct hat manufacture of Dumfries the Beatties 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 299 

were nearly as much bound up as the Baliefis. Some mem- 
bers of the former family are commemorated by a table and 
headstone — the oldest, Francis Beattie, who lived to be 86, 
having followed the occupation of a dyer, and died 1st 
January 1837. His spouse, Elizabeth Brown ; their daughter, 
Elizabeth Beattie, died 27th February 1862, aged 78 ; with a 
younger daughter, Margaret died at 22, being mentioned in 
the same inscription. A second one includes George Beattie, 
died 15th Apiil 1819, aged 35 ; Francis Beattie, died 
at Port Hope, Upper Canada, 29th September 1828, aged 
32 ; John Beattie, died January 12th 1854, aged 67 ; and 
John Thomson died 14th October 1832, aged 45 — aU of whom 
before their own heads were laid low carried on a respectable 
trade in fabricating "beavers" for "the heads of the people." 
Another table commemorates Maxwell Wilson, shoemaker, 
died 28th January 1810, aged 85, with Margaret M'Master, 
his spouse, their children, Maxwell and William, died when 
infants, James, their son, who followed his father's trade, 
died 9th August 1864, at a still greater age, 88, with Janet 
Primrose, his spouse. The fragmentary inscription, "In 
memory of," appears on the head of a table in this sub- 
division, and after a wide interval the name "J. Pagan." 
This applies, we believe, to "Jamie Pagan" as he was 
usually termed, a well-oonnected but haverel sort of body, 
not overstocked with either siller or sense. He was long 
one of the "characters" of the Burgh at a time when 
there were more "innocents," oddities, and waifs going 
or floating about outside of Bedlam than is the case at 
present. Deep down below the footpaths of St. Michael's 
not a few of these poor creatures have found an asylum, 
where they rest as soundly as the most fortunate of their 
feUow-creatures in other portions of the Cemetery that are 
marked by " storied urn or animated bust." James Pagan 
is about the only one of them whose name finds a place in 
its obituary literature. With all his witlessness he had a 
wonderful perception of the flight of time : as all the boys of 
the locality knew, he was like a personified chronometer. 
On meeting with him they were in the habit of plying him 



300 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL'S. 

with the query, " Jamie, what o'clock is't T* and his response, 
always readily given, was usually correct, though, we need 
scarcely say, he carried no watch in his pocket, but something 
equivalent to one in his own upper storey that was otherwise 
but poorly furnished. 

Headstones arise in this subdivision to commemorate 
an industrious tradesman, Charles Bobb, cabinetmaker, died 
14th April 1839, aged 82, his wife, Elizabeth Eeid, eight of 
their children, including William died at 24, Elizabeth, wife of 
Robert Eeid, also a cabinetmaker, died 27th August 1840, aged 
46; Ebenezer Irving, died 9th August 1794, aged 45, with Sarah 
Watson, his wife ; Ann Milligan, spouse of Rawland Wilson, 
died 19th January 1800, aged 41 ; two brothers Nixon, 
Thomas died 16th October 1835, aged 48, John died 23d 
December 1837, aged 62 ; William Hyslop, mason, died 19th 
March 1843, aged 39, with Sarah Ballantine, his wife; 
Elizabeth Wright, spouse of Nathaniel Cowan, died 12th 
April 1815, aged 74, with four infant children of her brother 
William Wright, staymaker, by his wife, Mary Cowan, who 
is also named in the inscription, died 23d March 1823, aged 
48 ; James Underwood, shoemaker, died 5th April 1837, 
aged 79, with Agnes Jardiue his spouse, and four children, 
the eldest of whom died at 19 ; Nicholas M'Dowal, wife of 
William Brown, shoemaker, died 21st August 1827, aged 76, 
the following poetical tribute forming part of the inscription : 

'* No smarting pain, no faithless terrors come 
To break thy slnmbers in the peaceful tomb ; 
Nor mouriiful eye nor plaintive voice bemoan, 
O, child of God ! thy SHviour's pi esence gone : 
Thy Lord appeared to hush thine eveiy sigh. 
To y eld thee Faith*8 triumph int victoiy. 
At evening tide, ere to the realms of day, 
Tiiy lung-afflicted spirit hied away." 

The bereaved husband lived till he was 83, his death occoi^ 
ring 18th October 1834. 




BEHIND THE CHURCH — CONTINUED. 

AILIE John Key, progenitor of several distinguished 
merchants, is commemorated by a stone of tabular 
form ; also his wife, Janet Thompson, and a number 
of their offspring. He died 9th April, 1790, aged 66. Their 
daughter^ Elizabeth, was wedded to Charles Johnston, who 
carried on a mercantile establishment at Ostend, dying at 
Dumfries, 27th October 1792, aged 46 — both being mentioned 
in the inscription ; also, their daughter Janet,' died at the age 
of 3. Adjoining, there rises a four-sided, urn-surmounted 
pillar, on the east side of which appears the name of ^' Alex- 
ander Key, Esq., merchant in London," who died at Cowhill, 
21st October 1817, aged 57 ; also the name of his wife, Sarah 
Denholm^ who died at Broomrig , 29th July 1805, aged 36. 
The north side records the name of Bailie Key^s daughter 
Jane, died 17th November 1835, aged 67. On the south side 
appears the name of William Key, bom in the Burgh, 
another City merchant, who died 10th August 1840, aged 70, 
and lies buried in the chancel vault of St. Marcin's-in-the- 
Tields. 

North of the Key memorials stand altar-stones bearing the 
following names : Sarah Parkins, spouse of James Newall, 
died 22d Mai-ch 1837, aged 77, with their son James, aged 
16 ; Eliza M^Caw, daughter of John Mosley M'Caw, Jamaica, 
SLged 15 ; James Scott, joiner, died 23d March 1781, aged 40, 
with Elizabeth Mundell, his spouse, and several children, in- 
cluding Martha, aged 16, also Walter Scott, Deacon of the 
Shoemakers, died 30th March 1834, aged 65, with his wife, 
Sarah Hopkins, and it is stated that the tombstone was 
erected by his second wife, Elizabeth : a headstone adjoins, . 
commemorating the worthy Deacon's daughter, aged 69, his 
son Thomas, also a " cordwainer," died 26th October 1816, 
aged 24, with three infant members of his household. 

Kobert Smith, coppersmith, died 5th September 1767, age 
not given, with Bethia Leckie, his spouse, and Bethia, their 



302 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAELS. 

daughter, spouse to James PatersoD, stocking manufacturei', 
died 28th November 1803, aged 75 ; Jean Welsh, spouse of 
James Grive, merchant, died 10th September 1795, aged 
24, with their infant daughter Agnes, also Agnes Welsh, 
spouse to James Eae, baker, died 31st June 1815, aged 
31, and Janet, daughter of Charles Donaldson, joiner, died 
10th December 1848, aged 22; Samuel Paterson, joiner, 
died 21 at October 1856, aged 74, with Anne Bell, his spouse, 
" She was a loving and virtuous wife, an affectionate mother, 
a sincere friend, and a pious Christian," and two children, 
the eldest, Mary, aged 6 ; Robert Gibson, flesher, died 20th 
October 1833, aged 64, with Sarah Reid, his spouse, and 
their son William, died in Portugal, 7th February 1835, 
aged 35 ; also two Roberts, youthful sons of Robert 
Gibson, shoemaker, and William, another son, died in 
the Bay of Bengal, 22d November 1849, aged 23 ; James 
Morine, another flesher, died 7th November 1853, aged 
72, with Janet M*Minu, his spouse, their children — 
James died at Stranraer when 27, WiUiam died at Fer- 
azapore, Eiist Indies, aged 29, Robert 31, Ann, spouse of 
William Richardson, died 29th November 1862, aged 55 ; 
John Carlisle, vintner, died 30th December 1817, aged 30, 
David Forteath, died 3d May 1863, aged 72,. the two hus- 
bands of Elizabeth M'Murray, who lies buried beside them, 
her death occurring 13th November 1864, when she was 72, 
the stone commemorating also her daughter, Mary Carlisle, who 
died at Barrow-on-Furness, 16th August 1865, aged 49; another 
vintner, William Hutchison, died 14th January 1815, aged 58, 
with Mary Dargavel, his spouse ; Susan M'Kill, spouse of 
John Milroy of Tachar, died 11th October 1779, aged 61 ; 
Elizabeth, daughter of James Thomson, Plainstones, died in 
Edinburgh, 6th February 1846 ; Mary, daughter of Adam 
Borland, Kilmarnock, died 13th July 1873, aged 36 ; Alex- 
ander Lennox, died 20th February 1778, aged 26. 

Fronting the northern walk a handsome little monument 
rises in a neatly kept compartment, the marble tablet telling 
that " Mrs. Janet M. T. Murdoch, late milliner," lies below. 
She died 13th March 1867, aged 56. It bears the name also 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 303 

of Agnes Aitken, wife of William Murdoch, clothier, 
died Ist July, 1872, aged 47. An additional inscription 
commemorates Robert Thomson, late farmer in Calside, died 
11th December, 1819, aged 64 ; Janet Miller, his wife ; Robert 
Smith, builder, died 12th October 1834, aged 45 ; and Mary 
Hannay, his wife. 

In the next plot, which fronts to the northern walk, lie the 
remains of Jane Burgess, wife of Mr. Alexander Crombie, 
architect, died 31st July, 1848, at the early age of 28. 

An adjoining altar monument is inscribed as follows : 

"Here lyes Mrs. Jean Martin, late spouse to John Clark, 
writer in Dumfries, who was a good wife, tender, affectionate, and 
chaiitable, and managed the affairs of her family with prudence and 
disci etion. She had 8 sons and 6 daughters, and died lamented 12th 
February 1766." 

The stone also commemorates James Clark, her son, died 21st 
November 1824, aged 75. 

A humble table stone adjacent bears high historical names : 
it commemorates Sarah, daughter of Captain Alexander 
Douglas, and spouse of Lieutenant John Campbell, died 29th 
October, 1764, aged 21 ; the inscription stating that " Here 
also lyes Jean Garruthers, daughter of the late William 
Carruthers of Warmanbie, who died February 25 1773 " — age 
not specified. Next to the above rises another table monu- 
ment in memoiy of Elizabeth, daughter of William Johnstone 
of Bearholm, died I7th November, 1729, aged 51 ; Joseph 
Johnstone, surgeon, died 29th November 1774, aged 49 ; aud 
Ann t[ohnstone, his spouse. 

A youthful victim of small-pox is commemorated by a 

solid oblong block within an enclosure, which bears her 

name, Jean Hay, and the following beautiful tribute to her 

memory : 

" If sense mature even in the dawn of years ; 
If bcHuty, youth, ot inn cence endears 
Affections soft wiih manly spiiit join*d, 
With gentle manners, sentiments refined ; 
If heaven-born piety sere ne yet bright ; 
If filial tendernef 8 tite 8oul delight ; 
If these united, c aim the cor lial tear. 
Let fee ing nature pay the tribute beie." 

She was the daughter of Sir Thouias Hay of Park, Bart., and 

died 20th February 1762, aged 11. 



304 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

We now reach a range of four tables marking the spot 
where related families repose, one of them bearing the name 
of the oldest female of which we have yet obtained any trace 
in the Churchyard. It appears on the second stone, which 
commemorates Robert Tait, shoemaker, her husband, who 
died 19th May 1801, aged 80 ; his first wife, Mary M'Kie, 
died 2d November, 1751, aged 33 ; and the venerable matron 
referred to, A.gne3 Fiodlay, his second spouse, " who died 
Dec. the 17th 1801, aged 101 years.'' Born in 1700, when 
William of Orange occupied the Britiah throne, Mrs. Tait 
secundus lived under the rule of five sovereigns, and, if a resi- 
dent in the Burgh all that time, she would witness many local 
changes, such as the building of the Mid-Steeple, of the New 
Church, the rebuilding and spiring of St. Michael's Church, 
the formation of Queensberry Square, the embankment of the 
discursive Nith, the erection of the Caul over it, of the Grain 
Mills upon its right bank, and of the New Bridge by which it 
is spanned, the planting of the Dock trees, and the extension 
of the town by the opening of Queensberry Street and the 
carrying of the Kirkgate far past St. Michael's Church. Of 
many stirring events the old lady might have been able to 
speak from personal observation : the dreams of her early 
childhood may have been broken by the alarming anti-Union 
disturbances at the Market Cross in 1707 ; she would pro- 
bably recollect till her latest day the crucible of terror into 
which the Jacobites of 1715 threw the town ; she may have 
seen ''Boyal Charlie" with his Highlanders in actual pos- 
session of it ; possibly enough her own gudeman may have 
been " airt and pairt " in the Pyet riot with which the whole 
country side rang at Michaelmas 1759 ; and her recollection 
would embrace such far-separated conflicts as the fight at 
Sheriffmuir and the battle of the Nile. 

William Lookup, tailor, who married Robert Tait's daugh- 
ter, is named upon the same tombstone, died 28th July 1815, 
aged 61 ; also a son of the former, same name and trade, died 
25th June 1827, aged 51, his wife, Janet M'Dowall, and their 
sons — Joseph died at 14, John at 41. The other inscriptions 
commemorate Alexander Smith, flesher, died 6th September 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 305 

1812, aged 27, with Mary Johnston, his wife ; Joseph, an 
infant son ; James Douglas, coppersmith, died 12th October 
1786, aged 72 — "An honest man the noblest work of God" 
— with Mary Gibson, his spouse, and their son Ebenezer, 
died on the passage fr6m Jamaica 6th April 1796, aged 
27 ; George Hair, son of Ninian Hair, died at St. Thomas, 
Jamaica, 27th February 1812, aged 23 ; Alexander Hair, who 
died at 13 ; and three other children cut off in infancy An 
adjoining headstone rises in memory of Janet Hair, her hus- 
band James Galloway, baker, died 23d January 1871, aged 
72, and three of their children, including Sarah, who died at 
18 ; also his second wife Mary Carlyle. 

Another venerable fabric, similar in shape, bears the fol- 
lowing inscription : " Here lyes John Thomson, merchant^ 
who departed this lyfe the 23 of Nov. 1734, aged 74 ; also in 
this place lyes William Thomson, his son, writer in Dumfries, 
who died Februarye 21, 1733, and of his age 25 yers." Other 
names appear upon the stone : Margaret Fergusson, the above 
merchant's spouse ; George Christie, baker, his son-in-law, 
died 15th November 1812, age not stated, with Grizel Thom- 
son, his spouse ; and a second George Christie, their son, who 
died 6th January 1844, aged 75. In an adjoining enclosure 
lie other Thomsons of the same family, two commemorative 
tablets rising above their remains ; one of which bears the 
name of James Thomson, died 13th April 1763, aged 60, and 
that of his wife, Janet Wright ; the other dedicated to Cap- 
tain James Thomson and Jean Johnston, his wife, the former 
of whom died some time in October 1798, the precise day 
and date of age being illegible ; also Mary, their daughter, 
died 2d January 1821, aged 44. 

On one of a group of three family altar-stones we read the 
familiar name of Archibald Hamilton, writer, who died 14th 
August 1851, aged 55. He was a well-informed, warm- 
hearted gentleman, with strong Conservative views in matters 
of Church and State. Long an elder in St. Michael's, and a 
member of the Town Council, he also officiated for several 
years as Dean of Guild. He was about the biggest bur- 
gess of his day — ^his outward man resembling to no small 

T 



306 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

extent that of Captain Grose^ as described b> Butds, whom 

he resembled also in geniality of disposition. The inscription 

also commemorates his father, William Hamilton, merchant, 

and his mother, Deborah Crosbie, the former of whom died 

27th June 1799, aged 33. Another of the stones bears the 

names of James Ritchie, mason, died 22d December 1810, 

aged 32 ; Jean Hamilton, his spouse ; Janet, their daughter, 

died 13th November, 1842, aged 56 ; and Elizabeth, another 

daughter, died 8th May, 1851, aged 68. Their youngest son, 

William Hamilton Ritchie, still survives at an advanced age. 

He received his education and served his apprenticeship in 

Dumfries, and proceeding to Dunbar when quite a youth, he 

soon acquired a high position in that burgh. For sixty-three 

years he has officiated as Town-Clerk, during a large proportion 

of which period he has also acted as agent for the Commercial 

Bank. Mr. W. H. Ritchie is deservedly much respected in 

Dunbar, and is in every way a credit to the Queen of the 

South. William Crosbie, mariner, died 17th August, 1862, 

aged 62, with Margaret Sewell and their son Robert, a youth 

of 13, are named on the third stone of the series. 

Robert Mitchell, Deacon of the Shoemakers, lies buried 
beneath a table-stone near by, with Mary Brice, and four of 
their children. He died 17th October, 1832, aged 72. 
Neighbouring headstones bear names long well known in the 
same trade, some of whose descendants are still pursuing it 
in the Burgh. Among these we find two John Ander- 
sons, father and son ; the elder died 12th May, 1844, aged 
55 ; the younger 22d February 1860, aged 41 ; also, Robert 
Scott Anderson, a brother of the latter, died 17th October, 
1860, aged 34. Agnes Scott, to whom the first John Ander- 
son was "jo," lies interred beside him, together with her 
father, Robert Scott, also a " cordwainer," died I7th Decem- 
ber 1840, aged 84, with Agnes Roan, his spouse ; also, John 
Roan, died 21st May 1783, aged 63, with Agnes Bell, his 
spouse, and four of their children, whose ages are not re- 
corded ; Janet Wallace, his second wife, and a second Robert 
Scott died 6th May 1866, aged 62, with three of his children, 
Alexander died at 9, Isabella at 17, and the third in infancy. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL^S. 307 

Robert Scott, secundus, who here lies so low, played the part 
of the Shoemaker King at the last Crispiu Procession in 
Dumfries 1863. 

For several generations the name of Thorbnrn was closely 
associated with the tanning trade of the Burgh. Thomas 
Thorbum and William Thorburn, who carried on an exten- 
sive business in that line, lie in the next compartment. The 
former died 3d October 1832 ; the latter 11th December, 
1832, age not stated in either case. William Thorburn 's 
wife, Mary Brand, is buried beside him ; and a neighbouriug 
thrugh bears the names of her grandfather, William Brand, 
merchant, died 5th January, 1742, aged 74, and grandmother, 
Janet Mounsey, died 23d July, 1765, aged 80 ; also, James 
Brand of Drumclyer, their son, merchant, died 17th January 
1792, aged 76. Mrs. Brand was nearly related to the great 
projector, William Paterson, whose eldest sister, Janet, was 
married to Thomas Mounsey of Skipmyre. 

We find the name Barbara Mouncy on a table-stone a 
little further south, where she is mentioned as the wife of 
David Glen, writer, who died 7th June 1809, aged 72. Mr. 
Glen was of diminutive stature. A tall professional brother 
with whom he had a quarrel on one occasion told him if he 
would not be quiet he would put him in his pocket. " If 
you do," wittily retorted Mr. Glen, " you will have more law 
in your pocket than ever you had in your head.'' His son 
David, also a writer, died 4th June 1817, aged 37, is also 
mentioued on the monument. Next to it there is a thrugh 
commemorating the father of the first-mentioned David Glen, 
also of the same name, and an innkeeper by occupation. Ho 
died 28th October 1746, aged 62 ; his wife, Agnes Corsane, 
related probably to the family who long bore magisterial nile 
over the Burgh, died 5th June 1741, aged 45, lies buried 
beside him. 

A neat headstone, with graceful floral carving, bears the 
names of Joseph Craik, merchant, and his two children 
Margaret Janet, died at 13, and John Torrance at 22. He 
died 2d June 1870, aged 46. His parents and other relatives 
are commemorated by a slab in front : John Craik died 7th 



308 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

December, 1819, aged 72 ; his spouse, Mary McMillan ; their 
son James, died 24th July 1831, aged 37 ; and his wife, 
Maiy Edgar. 

To the memory of a worthy man, Thomas Hogg, stamp- 
master, a similar stone is devoted, which bears the following 
lines, the last four of which have been borrowed from Pope's 
well-known epitaph on Groldsmith : 



«( 



In this blest grave, amid whose favouriiig gloom 
Mem'ry still loves to ^^uard her votary's tomb. 
Shall I withhold what all his virtues claim : 
The sacred tribute to a father's name ? 
Whose manners gentle, his affections mild. 
In wit a man, in simplicity a child. 
Above temptation in a humble state, 
And uncorrupted even among the great. 



»» 



Mr. Hogg died 12th August, 1828, aged 57. His wife 
Margaret Haddon and their son William Charters are named 
in the inscription: and it is stated that the stone was 
erected by another son, John. On a slab in front is in- 
scribed " F. C. in 1723 ;" also the name of Isabella Sanders, 
daughter of Thomas Hogg, died 24th November, 1862, 
aged 48 ; and the words " the property of Robert Gibson 
Hogg, Kiugston-upon-Thames, Surrey." A neighbouring 
headstone commemorates Alexander Young, Supervisor of 
Excise, Dumfries, died 30th September, 1819, aged 44; 
Margaret, his daughter ; also Eleanor, " the beloved wife " 
of John Tusting, officer of Excise, died 23d March, 1840, 
aged 29. Southward a little appears a stone of similar shape, 
erected in memory of Janet Moodie, wife of another Excise 
officer, Supervisor James Palmer, died 2d December 1848, 
aged 55. 

Nearly two hundred years ago, as mentioned in a preced- 
ing chapter, Dumfries was ruled over by Provost Thomas 
Home ; and the family name, long not uncommon in the 
Burgh, is now rare. On a neighbouring headstone we 
read of two George Homes, father and son. The elder 
was of Frankfield, and died 16th January 1866, aged 
81 ; the latter was little more than half that age when he 
died, 4th January 1865, aged 41. We have sought with in- 
diflfereut success throughout the Cemetery for some monu- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 809 

mental record of the M'Brairs, a family that were for many 
generations still more influential and opulent in the district 
than the Romes, and who indeed occupied a vanward place 
among the patrician fathers of the Burgh. Between 1469 
and 1581 at least six of them bore rule as provosts. Of tene- 
ments in. the town, and of broad acres on the banks of Nith 
and Urr, they, down till about two hundred years ago, owned 
an extraordinary share ; but of their dwellings in this city 
of the dead scarcely a trace is visible, thqugh we know with 
certainty that many of them lie fathom-deep or more below 
its turf. The patronymic appears once, and, so far as we 
have seen, once only in the records of the Cemetery, that 
are above the surface, but other stones, y^e may be sure, are 
inscribed with the name that have been buried beside the 
bones of those who bore it and moulder away together. On 
an altar stone a few yards east of Bailie Key's conspicuous 
monument, we read of Janet M'Brair as the wife of Thomas 
Dickson, Hightown of Craigs : she lived to be 85, her death 
occurring 11th November, 1845; her husband having prede- 
ceased her so far back as 8th March, 1802, when he was 56 : 
their son, John Dickson, Hightown of Craigs, died at Jenny- 
gill 30th June 1870, aged 84, is also named in the inscription. 
■ Two tables adjoin, displaying the name of Burgess, which 
is still frequently met with in the Burgh, though not so much 
80 as it was last century. One of the stones commemorates 
William Burgess, died 3d April 1807, aged 74 ; his wife, 
Janet Douglas ; John Burgess, smith, died 3d June 1833, 
aged 72 ; and his wife, Margaret Goldie. The other stone 
rises in memory of Robert Burgess, hosier, died 12th 
February 1829, aged 57; his spouse, Mary Fraser; and their 
daughter, Jessy, aged 10. 

A very handsome canopied monument is next arrived at 
" Sacred to the memory of John Learmont, who died 20th 
July 1866, aged 88 years ; and Sarah Brown, his wife, who 
died 13th October 1842, aged 58 years." Above the spacious 
marble tablet, which bears the inscription, appears an angelic 
figure, finely carved, with a scroll having written upon it the 
words " The just shall live by faith ;" while on the foot of 



310 HEMORIAI^ OF ST. MICHASL's. 

the panel another dieeriug passage of Scripture ia engraved, 
" For if we believe that Jesns died and rose again, even so, 
them also which sleep in Jesus wiU €rod bring with Him." 
Mr. Learmont followed the most ancient of all occupa- 
tions, that of 'Hhe grand old gardener/' Adam. Many 
acres within and around the Burgh were ''subdued" by 
his skilful and industrious hand. So far back as 1812 
he took a prominent part in founding the Dumfries- 
shire and Galloway Horticultural Society, which still flou- 
rishes under a somewhat different name ; and throughout his 
long career he was a leading horticulturist, and held in high 
i-efti)ect by the general community. The names of five of his 
children are also inscribed on the monument : John, aged 
^0 ; Mary, 16 ; Thomas Watson Kirkpatrick, 24 ; Janet, 61 ; 
and George, who successfully prosecuted his father's profes- 
sion, died 30th June 1874, aged 61. Mrs. Halliday, a surviv- 
ing daughter, is the widow of Mr. James Halliday, builder, 
whose monument has been already noticed. 

Among the Dumfries merchants who flourished to- 
wards the end of the seventeenth century, and during 
the first half of the eighteenth, were several members 
of the Corrie family, who took their name from the old 
Annandale parish of Corrie (a Celtic compound, signifying 
a narrow glen), and one of whom, Walter de Corrie, was 
governor of Dumfries Castle in 1291-2. They intermarried 
with the Bells, Dicksons, Lawsons, Goldies, Ewarts, Edgars, 
and Crosbies of their own high standing in the BurgL 
James Corrie was Provost in 1718-19-20, and enjoyed the 
same hoiK)ur for two other triennial periods ending with 
1736. His brother Joseph was Town-Clerk for some time 
afterwards ; a son of the latter, also named Joseph, subse- 
quently filled the office, and on him the perilous duty de- 
volved of reading the Kiot Act from the Council-house 
window during the Pyet and Corbie riots of September 1759. 
The name is not unfrequently met with in the graveyard 
literature of St. MichaeFs, and some leading members of the 
family lie below a series of five old stones, three tabulai' and 
the other two slabs, which have been more injured by the 



' MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 311 

irreverent feet of visitors than by the hand of Time. We 
give the inscriptions verbatim: 

1. "Here lyes William Corrie, late Bailie of Drumfries, who 
departed this life on the 10 day of June 1709, and of his age 59." 

Heir lyes the corps of William Corrie, who departed this life the 
18 of Deer. 170-, of age 16 years ; sone to William Corrie, late 
Bailie of Drumfries." 

"Buried here Jean Mathison, the wife of William Corrie, mer- 
chant. She died Oct. 4 1774, age 45 years 11 months." 

2. " Here are buried Jean Paterson, wife of William Corrie, who 
died 29 May 1715 ; Joseph Corrie, his son, Town-Clerk, he died 17th 
Feby. 1760, aged 60 ; Jean Goldie,. his first wife, who died 4 July 
1733, aged 31 ; Marion Crosbie, his second wife — she died 13 Deer. 
1760 ; Joseph Corrie, the son of Wm. Corrie, mercht., who died 13 
August, 1772, aged 17 ; William Corrie of Bidbank, son of Joseph 
Corrie and Jean Goldie, died in London 15th April 1777, aged 56, 
and was interred in Bunhill Fields burial ground. 

3. " Here lyes the coarps of Margaret Lauson, who departed this 
life anno 1703, a^ed 18 mounths; and the corps of William Lauson, 
who departed this life in anno 1706, aged 14 mounths ; and the corps 
of John Lauson, who departed this life in anno 1709, aged one year : 
children of Heugh Lawson, merchant in Drumfries. Here lyes Agnes, 
Elizabeth, Grizell. and Agnes Lausons." 

" Here lyes interred the body of Margaret Lawson, daughter of 
Hugh Lawson, late merchant in Dumfries, who died the 18th of 
November, 1745, in the 30th year of her age." 

4. " Here lyes the corps of Hugh Lauson, merchant, who departed 
this life June 20th, 1720, aged 52 years." 

** Also here lyes GrizaU Corrie, relict of Hugh Lawson, merchant, 
who departed this life 13 of March 1728, and of her age the 50 year." 

" Here lyes Agnes M'Eitirick, spouse to James Corrie, late Provost 
of Drumfries, who dye the 20th December 1721, aged 31 yeares and 
3 months." 

"Here lyes Margaret Philip wife of Joseph Corrie, Town- Clerk, 
who died 20th May, 1763." 

Among the family group thus enumerated lies also their 
most distinguished member, Provost Corrie, a stone marking 
the spot, which bore the following tribute to his worth : 

"Here lyes James Corrie of Speddooh, merchant, who often 
enjoyed and faithfully discharged the ofBce of chief magistrate 
within this burgh. During a long and deserved trust he acted 
with prudence and moderation, and a steady zeal for the public 
interest. Active, assiduous, enterprising, he happily devised and 
successfully pursued the most commendable methods in business, 
revived declining trade, and by his example stimulated an industrious 
emulation in others. In every respect, for it was his ambition, he 
truly promoted the general weal. Having joined to an unblemished 
integrity those rare abilities which rendered him amiable and useful 
in life, in death justly regretted as a good man, a sincere friend, and 
a worthy citizen. He died November 8, 1742, aged 59. Also Janet 
€k)ldie, his spouse, who died 27th June, 1762, aged 61 years, a wife 
worthy of such a husband," 



312 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

The visitor to St. Michael's will look in vain for the foregoing- 
inscription, it having been very improperly obliterated some 
years ago : for the copy here given we are indebted to Dr. 
W. G. Dickson, 3 Boyal Circus, Edinburgh, who hajEi also 
favoured us with the subjoined notes regarding the family 
pedigree, which help to illustrate the preceding inscrip- 
tions : Provost James Corrie married Janet Goldie of Craig- 
muie. His son, Hugh Corrie, married Miss Collow of 
Auchenchain, and had for issue Thomas Corrie of Newton- 
Aird and Steilston, and a daughter, married to James 
Connel of Conheath. Joseph Corrie, brother of James, 
married Jean Goldie of Craigmuie. His son "William 
was wedded to Helen Edgar, of Bedbank : whence the 
Corries of Liverpool and London. The other son, Joseph, 
who married Margaret Philp, had a daughter who married 
Hope Vere of CraighalL A daughter became the wife of the 
Eev. John Ewart, minister of Troqueer, whose grandson, 
William Ewart, was long member for the Dumfries Burghs. 
Another daughter married John Gilchrist, son of Lbenezer 
Gilchrist, M.D. The Jean Paterson named in the second 
inscription was of Skipmyre, the sister of, or otherwise nearly 
related to, the famous projector of the Darien scheme. 

Further east there are two tables, not so ancient as the 
preceding, beneath which lie the remains of some who were 
kith and kin to the Corries. The stones commemorate Bailie 
William Bell, merchant (brother, we presume, of George 
Bell of Conheath, Provost during the Jacobite occupation in 
1745), who died 13th November 1766, aged 35 ; his daughter, 
Miriam, died 20th October 1775, aged 24 ; and Bailie James 
Bell (another brother?), died 31st December 1753. 

We find a date still older than any of the foregoing on 

another time-shaken table, which is thus inscribed : 

" Here lyes Bobert Bailie, merchand Barges of this Burg, who 
depairted this life upon the 28 day of augast, 1685 years, and of his 
age 36. — Here lyes also Janet Bailie, spouse to John Fullerton, 
merchaude of this Burghe, who depairted this life upon the 31 day of 
May 1714 years, and of his age 33 years." 

An inscription follows of a less ancient type in memory of 
Bobert Threshie, Deacon of the Tailors, died 5th June 1819, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MTCHAEL's. 313 

aged 77 ; of Margaret Gibson, his spouse ; of Mary Threshie, 
their daughter, spouse of George Blount, died 10th April 
1844, aged 73 ; of Robert, son of the latter, died 4th July 
1862, aged 53 ; and of Margaret, their daughter, who died in 
childhood. Deacon Threshie was father of Robert Threshie 
of Bambarroch, County Clerk, and Commissary Clerk of 
Dumfriesshire, whose monument is noticed at page 39. 

Additional headstones in this part of the section tell of 
Richard Irving, mariner, died at Liverpool 11th February 
1876, aged 78, "but here interred," his wife, Agnes Ander- 
son,- their son Richard, who also died at Liverpool, aged 37 ; 
of Jane Marchbank, wife of John Richardson, Kingholm 
Quay, died 29th April 1868, and two of their children ; of 
Charles Bowman, weaver, died 8th May 1732, aged 55, 
Agnes Miller, his spouse, their son Samuel died 4th August 
1791, aged 75, and a grandson William, who died at 9 ; of 
Mark Richardson, Greenbrae, died 16th November 1858, 
aged 52 ; of Margaret, infant daughter of Matthew OTarrell ; 
and of John William Winzer, another infant, above whose 
name a cross is inscribed. The resting place of Robert 
Robertson, died 22d July 1850, aged 94 ; of his spouse 
Mary Edgar ; and of several relatives, is indicated by a double 
headstone, the obituary including their children, Thonias> 
aged 13, William, 10, Robert, 13 : also John Robertson 
(brother of Robert?), died June 16th, 1872 aged 83, his 
wife, Mary Campbell ; and James Richardson, died 5th July 
1836, aged 23. 

We have already seen where some whose business it was to 
furnish the stafiF of life are located in this commonwealth of 
the dead ; but not till now have we noticed any names 
associated with the old term "baxter." Richard Dickson, 
baxter, paid his quotum of ten shillings towards the Jacobite 
tribute money in 1745. He died in 1784, aged 63, and lies 
below a tabular tiomb-stone, together with his wife, Helen 
Beatty. Her brother, Andrew Beatty, merchant, died 4th 
October, 1750, aged 60, and with his spouse, Jean Johnstone, 
rests beneath an adjoining monument similar in form. On a 
table near by we read of " Thomas Edgar, baxter, son of the 



314 MKMOXIAU OF ST. XICHAEL^S. 

deoeasty" John Edgar, died lOth September, 1744^ aged 18 
abo of two children of Deacon Thomas Nairn, saddler, Jean, 
died 14th April 1819, aged 70, Thomas, died 6th Febmaiy 
1829, aged 66. Another stone commemorates Thomas Nairn 
himself, who was Deacon of the Hammermen, with Jean 
Edgar, his wife, and their childreo, Jane died at 3, Susan at 
4, and John at 22. His death occurred 23d September 1794, 
:iged 73. The stone, a tabular one, bears to have been 
erected by Mary Nairn, the Deacon s daughter, whose name 
also appears upon it, died 2l3t March 1832, aged 71. She 
will be well remembered by many of our older townspeople 
as the douce, obliging, clever landlady of the Coffee-House 
tavern, and who was supposed to resemble in many respects 
the Auld Ns^se Tinnock of Bums's verse. 

Another tribune of the Crafts and therefore a Town 
OouuciUor, lies not far off ; but the supports of his monu- 
ment, meant to keep his memory green, are now laid 
above it so as to hide the inscription which tells that 
Robert Blackstock, Deacon of the Shoemakers, and his wife 
Elizabeth, are buried here. He died 12th February 1728. 
John Blackstock, his son, we believe, presided as Convener of 
the Seven Trades, at the competition for the Silver Gun, 4th 
June 1781. John was simply a deacon in 1777. He is 
depicted by Mayne as being present at the Siller Gun 
banquet of that year. 

" Convener Tamson mens'd the board, 
Wheie sat ilk Deacon like a lord. 
John Blackstock raise and waved his sword 

In loyal glee ; 
* God save the King ' was thrice encor'd, 

Wi' three times three." 

On a table-stone adjoining, we find the name of John 
NeilsoQ, who died 3d August 1824, aged 54. When working 
as a mason at a new house in St. MichaeFs Street, a heavy 
cornice fell upon him, causing his instantaneous death. His 
widow, Sarah Grordon, died 5th April 1847, aged 71 ; their 
son John died 13th March 1869, aged 66 ; their daughter 
Mary died 17th February, 1870, aged 65 ; and another daugh- 
ter, Agnes, spouse to James Edgar, mason, with other 
children, are also mentioned on the monument. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 315 

*'Blin' Tarn," who is but a traditionary personage to the 
people of the present generation, made a great clamour in 
his day, the duty of ringing the town bells having been dis- 
charged by him for more than sixty years prior to 1825. 
'When quite a child he was robbed of sight by small-ppx, 
and on growing up he could not remember experiencing the 
luxury of having looked upon the beauties of the external 
'world, or what would have been to him more lovely, the 
face of the mother who held him at her breasts and who had 
dandled him on her knee. The education of young Wilson 
for that was his name — was not neglected, however, and at 
an early age he manifested a faculty for mechanics, which, 
spite of his blindness, he turned to good practical account. 
He found the elevated yet humble position which he after- 
Tirards reached congenial to his taste ; and the hunchback 
Quasimodo of Victor Hugo was no more the presiding spirit 
of Notre Dame than was the blind bell-ringer of Dumfries 
the genvs loci of the Mid-Steeple. In his more veteran 
days, but while yet vigorous, his portrait was finely sketched 
as follows by our accomplished townsman, Mr. Robert Car- 
ruthers of Inverness : 

" For long and many a year has Tarn pursued 
His trade of ringing bells and shaping wood. 
But more than Uiis — a public man is he ; 
Noise in the world he makes, and loyal glee. 
Each king's birth -day the steeple's highest height 
He mounts, and stands triumphant in the light : 
Fires his old gun (which more than thirty years 
He thus has shot, exempt from age's fears), 
And waves his hat — a spectacle might draw 
The admiration of each passing crato ! 
When Britain's triumph warmed each generous heart, 
Tarn, in his glory, bore a pablic part ; 
When with each morning news of victory came, 
And British valour fanned the patriot flame, i 

Our festive parties Tom essayed to cheer : 
The flag was hoisted and the bells rung clear. 
And fast and merrily he climbed the stair 
To strike the peal and toast the warriors there." 

It is recorded of Tam that during his whole life he only 
made a single business slip, and that was by ringing the ten 
o'clock bell an hour too late ; the reason assigned by him for 
the mistake, when rallied upon it, being that he must have 



316 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

been "fey that nicht" The following passage from the 
obituary notice of him in the Coitrier is well worth quoting : 
"About fifteen years ago the Mid-Steeple was thoroughly 
repaired, and a splendid new cock substituted in the place 
of the previous old and clumsy weather vane — a great event 
for Blind Tom. The Steeple was in a great measure his 
domicile, and he who had so much to do with the base 
could not but be attentive to the ornaments of the capital 
Up therefore he would go to the top, and though repeatedly 
warned against the dangers he would run, lie actually ac- 
complished the perilous enterprise, threw his arms around 
the bonny bird, and bestowed upon him a benediction to 
this eflFect, That he might long continue to indicate as truly 
the four airts as he himself indicated the time of day." 

Tam rung strangely out of tune at ten o'clock on another 
night than the one already referred to. The peal was so 
jarring and fitful that many folks wondered if the douce 
rope-puller had once again become fey, A popular old 
ballad tells how " Every jow that the muckle bell gaed, cried 
' Wae for Barbara Allan,' " and though there was no malison 
like this in the language of the chime, *' Death, in the words 
of the same ancient eflfusion, " was wi' him dealin*," and the 
poor old man was literally ringing his own knell. 

Humble in condition though Tom was, his moral worth, 
combined with his official position as a servant of the Burgh, 
secured for him a public funeral, which is thus described by 
the local journalist : — " The remains of our singular and un- 
equalled bellman were interred on Thursday, the 14th curt., 
under circumstances highly creditable to the feelings of our 
townsmen. The funeral was attended by, at least, three 
hwidred individuals, including the magistrates, clergy, sur- 
geons, professional gentlemen, and many of the most re- 
spectable merchants in town ; and it was generally admitted 
that no similar event, since the death of Burns, had excited 
anything like the same interest. As the procession moved 
slowly along, the windows and streets were filled with 
spectators on every side ; and as the Mid-Steeple beUs tolled 
at intervals (a mark of respect which is never paid to private 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 317 

individuals) every one thought of the veteran ringer who 
commenced his labours more than half a century ago, and 
discharged his duties to the last with such undeviating 
strictness that ev^en Death found him at his post. Among 
the chief mourners we observed Provost Thomson and 
Captain M'Dowall ; and altogether old Thomas Wilson, 
who, in allusion to the boys that followed him to the steeple, 
used to boast that he had instructed three different gene- 
rations of ringers, was as much honoured when dead as he 
was respected when living. A decent tombstone is to be 
erected to his memory, the subscriptions to which are fast 
filling up, and which will add to the numerous other at- 
tractions of a churchyai'd which excites the wonder of every 
stranger, both for the number and elegance of its monu- 
ments." 

A neat little headstone which marks his grave near the 
footpath on the north bears the following inscription : 

** Erected by a few of his many friends, and sacred to the memory 
of Thomas "Wilson, who departed this life the 10th of April 1825, aged 
75 years. He for the long period of sixty-three years summoned the 
lieges' to labour and repose with the regularity of the clock itself, 
and may almost be said to have died at his post. It is calculated and 
believed that he rang the bells of Dumfries more than one hundred 
thousand times. He was quite blind from his infancy, was a faithful 
servant, a kind-hearted, honest, and industrious man, one that feared 
God and honoured the King." 

In this section of the grounds the death emblems that were 
common for some centuries before the current one are rarely 
met with. "We find some of them, however, grotesquely 
displayed on an antique little tombstone which marks the 
dusty bed of Robert Hunter, burgess, who departed this life 
29th December 1735, aged 56. A skull and crossbones, a pair 
of disconsolate cherubs, and a winged head, intended, we 
suppose, to suggest the idea of heaven, though it does not 
wear a very etherial aspect, figure upon the stone ; but the 
rude sculpture, while striving to shadow forth life eternal as 
well as death, is showing unmistakable symptoms of its own 
mortality. A more modem inscription has been added to 
commemorate James Sturgeon, innkeeper, died 23d December 
1792, aged 68. Another small stone that has experienced still 



318 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

greater dilapidation rises a few yards further north. The 
head of the destroying angel, which once stood out in bold 
relief, is now but as the shadow of a shade, and the symbolic 
sandglass which accompanied it has itseK run to sand. The 
stone is, however, still able to announce the bereavement 
sufiFered by William Johnstone and his spouse, Catherine 
Lockhart, when their daughter Margaret was taken from 
them, so far back as October 1722. 

Other headstones round about bear the following names : 
Margaret Grier, spouse of James Pain, shoemaker, died 1st 
December 1813, aged 53 ; also Lillie Grier, wife of Benjamin 
Carruthers, died 16th July 1798, aged 51 ; George Haining, 
tailor, died 14th March 1843, aged 40, with his wife, Janet 
Sorbie ; Matthew Wilson, died 6th January 1830, aged 77, 
with Agnes Maxwell, his spouse, their daughter Elizabeth, 
died at 58, and their grandson, Thomas Hetherington, died 
at 36 ; Thomas Welsh, shoemaker, died 15th March 1793, 
aged 56, with Agnes M'Kie, his wife, their children, Charles 
died at 9, David in infancy, and Elizabeth, a granddaughter, 
at 8 ; William M'Kendrick, died 16th February 1819, his 
son, Matthew, plasterer, died 2d December 1858, with the 
wife of the latter, Helen Stewart, all dying at a good old age, 
87, 86, and 87 respectively, also Matthew's daughter Jean 
Bums, so called after Bums the poet and his Bonnie Jean ; 
Peter Milligan, saddler, died 15 th 3iay 1862, aged 56, 
with James, his sod, aged 4 ; Thomas Bussell, nailer, died 
10th February 1859, aged 59, with Isobell Dingwall, his 
spouse, and Thomas, their son, who followed his father's 
trade, and died 23d October 1869, aged 66 ; the loss of three 
children by John Gowan, and of other three by Thomas 
Buie, is indicated on other headstones of the section. 




BEHIND THE CHURCH — CONTINUED. 

EAB the corner, between the footpaths north and 
east, a handsome pyramid toweirs up, which is thus 
inscribed : 

''Sacred to the memory of James Grant, writer, a young man of 
a generous disposition and very promisiDg talents, who died on the 
8th of June 1819. Altho' he had not attained his 22d year, not 
one of his relations survived him ; his acquamtances therefore, who 
sincerely deplore his loss, have erected this as a memorial of their 
regard for his memory 

* The grave is but our bed, 
'T^s but a night — 
A long and moonless night.* " 

The first Secession congregation formed in Dumfries was 
that of Loreburn Street, which dates from 1759. Its first 
minister was the Bev. Thomas Herbertson, and its second 
was the Eev. William Inglis, who lies in the adjoining plot. 
He was a native of Leslie, in Fifeshire, and was ordained 
over the congregation in 1766. He frequently numbered 
among his hearers Kobert Bums, who had a sitting in his 
church, though the poet's family pew was in St. Michael's. 
Between the bard and the minister there was a considerable 
amount of intimacy. Mr. Inglis was such a good man, as 
well as able preacher, that Bums, who had little respect for 
the clergy in general, viewed his character with admiration. 
When the poet was on one occasion questioned about his 
attendance at " The meeting house," his reply was, " I go to 
hear Mr. Inglis because he preaches what he believes, and 
practices what he preaches." The deceased minister is com- 
memorated both by a table monument and one of a more 
ambitious design in the Gothic style. The first bears also 
the name of his spouse, Elizabeth Simson, died 8th Novem- 
ber, 1814, aged 68 : Of him, says the inscription, "it may 
be said with truth he was (Bomans xii., 11-12), 'fervent in 
spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribula- 
tion, continuing instant in prayer." Helen, their eldest 
daughter, died 10th April 1822, and Elatherine, their third 



320 MSMOKIALS OF ST. UICHAISL's. 

daughter, wife of the Bev. Bobert Grellatlj, Mamsriddle, died 
18th September 1839, axe also mentioned in the inscription. 
The principal monument bears the following tribute : 

** Sacred to the memory of the Bev. William Inglis, minister of the 
First United ARsociate congregation of Dumfries, who died on the 
lOth of May, 1826, in the 85th year of his age, and 62d of his 
ministry. He was possessed of an amiable temper, and of a peculiar 
suavity of manners, which endeared him to all who had the pleasure 
of his acquaintance : as a minister he was a fearless reprover of vice, 
a faithful promoter of virtue, assiduous and punctual in the discharge 
of all his various duties : he was a steady and sincere friend^ a loving 
and affectionate husband, a tender father, an exercised Christian, and 
an honest man. He Uved greatly beloved, and died deeply regretted. 
Erected by the congregation in testimony of their esteem." 

The Rev. James Clyde, who married the daughter of Mr. 

Inglis, became his successor in the pastorate : one of their 

children is the well-known scholar, James Clyde, LL.D. At 

present the congregation is ministered to by the Rev. D. L. 

Scott and his colleague, the Rev. George Rae, M.A. 

Further west, rises a stately Gothic structure, on which the 
winged spur of the Annandale Johnstones and their motto 
" Nunquam non paratus " are engraved. It bears the name 
of "William Jardine, surgeon, royal navy, who counted kinship 
with another Annandale sept, the Jardines of Applegarth, 
died 12th January 1823, aged 64 ; also the names of his wife, 
Ann Dow, of their daughter Ann, and of her husband, 
David Johnstone, long a leading writer and much-respected 
citizen of Dumfries. Mr. Johnstone died 20th January 
1861, aged 70. A gracefully-shaped sarcophagus stands in 
front of the monument, overlooking a slab meant to com- 
memorate John Jardine, father of "William, but the inscrip- 
tion upon it is not very legible. 

A neat monument near by bears the name of Samuel 
Dickson, jeweller, died 5th March 1859, aged 46, of whom 
the inscription truly says, " He was a kind father, an affec- 
tionate husband, and much respected by all who knew him." 
Mr. Dickson's wife, Mary M'Cormick, died 10th October 
1832, in her 19th year ; his second wife, Annie Milroy, died 
21st October 18^1, aged 54, with six of his children, are 
also named in the inscription, including Thomas Milroy^ died 
at 6, Thomas H. Ferguson, at 17, "William Scott, at 19, and 



MEMORIALS OF BT. MICHABL's. 321 

James M'Lachlaii, lost at sea, aged 23. An adjoining head- 
stone rises to commemorate Thomas Mihroy, joiner, father of 
Annie Mih*oy, died 21st February 1845, aged 57 ; his wife, 
Beatrice Eiddick ; and their daughter, Euphemia, aged 32. 

Whether or not John Hyslop, who was tenant of the 
Globe Tavern, Dumfries, when it used to be frequented by 
Bums, is a death-long tenant of St. Michael's Cemetery, we 
are unable to say, no trace of him appearing on any of its 
monuments, nor yet of his wife, or their niece, " Anna of the 
gowden locks." The next landlord of the " howf '* was, we 
believe, named Ewing, and some of his successors lie in the 
ground now reached — ^the headstone over them commemo- 
rating Andrew Graham, innkeeper, died 31st May 1819, aged 
48 ; " Mary Carruthers, his spouse, of the Globe Inn," died 
28th February 1860, aged 87 ; Andrew, their son, died 27th 
April 1841, aged 33, John, another son, died 24th April 1846, 
aged 48 ; and Elizabeth Graham, their daughter, also of the 
Globe, died 8th February 1870, aged 70. The present owner 
and occupier of the famous tavern is Mrs. Murray. 

Farther west a few yards rises a very neat head-stone — 
adorned with a floral device — in memory of Mary M'Lauchlan, 
wife of Andrew Nicholson, shoemaker, died 31st August 
1860, aged 71. The deceased, when young, was in the service 
of James M^Clure, letter-carrier, the devoted attendant of 
Bums on his death-bed, who gave valuable assistance to 
Cromek when that indefatigable collector was preparing his 
" Beliques of Burns," and whose memorial stone, as we have 
already seen, lies within the enclosure of the Mausoleum. 
At his death in 1813 Mrs. Bums took her friend's servant 
into her own household, and finding her sensible and trust- 
worthy, treated her more as a companion than as a dependant. 
Soon after, the widow of the poet got some new parlour fur- 
niture, and as a consequence paii; of the old plenishing that 
had been used at Ellisland was placed in the garret of the 
house. One day Mrs. Bums, pointing to six of the ancient 
chairs, a table, and some other articles stored away in the 
attics, said to her servant, " Now, Mary, these things are to 
be yours for setting up house wi* whenever ye get a hus- 

U 



322 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

band," the idea never entering Bonnie Jean's mind, we 
believe, that, like Aladdin's Lamp, the old was incomparably 
more precious than the new. Accordingly, when Mary 
M'Lauchlan was married her kind mistress gave her the said 
relics ; and those of them (nearly all) which still remain with 
her surviving husband, Andrew Nicholson, are justly viewed 
by him as priceless treasures. Mr. Nicholson, now far 
advanced in years, is still wonderfully hale, and is much 
respected by his neighbours. He has, among other memo- 
rials of the national bard, a most characteristic letter dated 
"Ellisland, Friday, 12th Sept. 1788," addressed by the farmer- 
poet to his newly- wedded wife a few days before her arrival 
in Nithsdale^ and which was first published by Mr. Hately 
Waddell, who, when commenting upon it, says of Mr. 
Nicholson : " The loyalty of this man's devotion to the 
memory of Bums is an honour to Dumfries and to his 
native country." 

Walter Campbell, a respectable teacher of the old school, 
whose memory is still cherished by not a few surviving 
pupils, receives commemoration from a headstone near by. 
For him the school of life was closed, and he entered on the 
long, long vacation 20th October 1858, at the age of 73. 
Beside him lie Mary M'William his spouse ; also, their sons, 
Walter, who died at 15, and Joseph at 5. Another stone of 
a similar form marks where lie the remains of another school- 
master, Alexander Welsh Affleck, who was engaged for half 
a century in " teaching the young idea how to shoot." He 
died 13th October 1856, aged 78. The inscription states that 
"He was a successful teacher in Dumfries for 50 years; 
respected by his pupils and all who knew him ; a kind friend 
and an affectionate husband." James Patterson, merchant, 
died 28th October 1843, aged 90 ; and Elizabeth Wilson, his 
wife, are also named upon the monument. 

No fewer than three watchmakers are traceable in this sec- 
tion — ^their own mechanism taken down to be re-constructed, 
wound up anew, and set agoing for all eternity by the Maker^s 
own hand. The name of Adam Ohisholm, which appears on 
a headstone, may still be seen on some old clocks that are 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 323 

still beating time, though his pulse has beat none for a long 
period-for how many years is not told by the stone which 
merely indicates his burial place. What says Longfellow 
in regard to the common lot of all ? 

" Art is long, and time is fleeting, 

And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still like muffled drums are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave." 

A brother tradesman, named Eobert Bamsay, died 21st 
August 1823, aged 38 ;. and Mary Sinclair, his spouse, 
are commemorated by a humble slab. Near it rises a 
table itt memory of Janet Paul, wife of "William Taylor, 
watchmaker, and several of their children ; and though 
his name does not appear in the inscription, we may 
fairly assume that his dust mingles in the same spot with 
theirs. As mentioned in a preceding chapter, a niece of 
Admiral Paul Jones, Mrs. Williamson, occupies a grave 
further south ; and the Janet Paul here specified was a sister 
of the renowned adventurer, whose real name was John PauL 
Mrs. Taylor died 5th September, 1817, aged 78. Her pro- 
geny, as inscribed, were Jean, John, and Elizabeth Paul, all of 
whom died in childhood. 

Intervening with some of these stones we find others 
devoted to members of the shopkeeping class : on one 
table appear the names of Eobert Walker, died 7th February 
1805, aged 70 ; of his spouse Herries Gray, of their five 
children, including James, aged 21 ; and Archibald, died at 
Virginia, 5th February 1805, aged 30. The following mem- 
bers of a related family are commemorated by an adjoining 
table-stone: Thomas Bairden, merchant, died 19th January 
1837, aged 58, with his wife, Elizabeth Walker ; their off- 
spring Elizabeth died 22d May 1841, aged 23 ; Jane, aged 11, 
and John, aged 4. On two other affiliated tables we read the 
names of Thomas Nicholson, merchant, died 15th July 1794, 
aged 21 ; of his sister Mary ; of her husband, William 
Aitchison, writer, died 9th August 1814, aged 40 ; of Janet 
Aitchison, their daughter, spouse of Thomas Gillespie, joiner, 
died at Manchester 2d January 1838, aged 37 ; and of Thomas, 
their son, died 11th December 1848, aged 51, and who, with his 



324 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

brother William, will be respectfully remembered by many 
readers as carrying on a cabinet-making business in Dum- 
fries for a long period ; also, the name of Margaret, infant 
daughter of Thomas Aitchison. 

James Morton, an9ther of the Burgh tavern-keepers who 
manufactured their own "barley bree,** and lived in what 
were " good old times '* to them, lies near by with Elizabeth 
Smith, his spouse. He died 2d February 1788, aged " above 
70." The stone also commemorates a worthy, pious man, 
Robert M'Robert, farmer in Gilfoot of Troqueer, died 18th 
November 1833, aged 67, also his son John, died 14th 
November 1853, aged 37. A table further west commemo- 
rates "Walter Murray, innkeeper, died 10th May 1783, aged 
45 ; Isabella, his spouse ; their daughters, Isabella, aged 47, 
Elizabeth, 67, and Joan, the latter wife of J"ames Simpson, 
hairdresser ; the barber himself, who died at the venerable 
age of 79, on 5th December 1850 ; William, their son, died 
at Woolwich, 11th April* 1847, aged 39 ; and Anne, another 
daughter, aged 65. 

Thomas Glendinning, who died 27th August 1846, aged 
82 ; Margaret, his spouse, and several of their progeny are 
commemorated by an adjoining table-stone. Of her it is 
stated that she was "In life respected and at death re- 
gretted." James, one of their sons, died at Calcutta, 9th 
May 1826, aged 32; another Thomas, died at Aylesbury, 
14th May 1836, aged 33 ; a third, Andrew, a printer, died 
21st July 1842, aged 29, and a fourth, William, died at 
Annan 24th October 1842, aged 45. 

Of two Robert Wilsons, father and son, gardeners, we read 
on neighbouring stones. The elder died 22d October 1810, 
aged 66 ; Ann Watred, his wife, and two youthful grandchil- 
dren lying beside him; the younger died 24th May 1790, aged 20. 

In a preceding chapter mention was made of the Armstrongs 
as the leading dyers of the district : an early member of the 
family, John Armstrong, receives commemoration from an 
adjoining altar-stone, date of death 3d January 1781, age 
43 \ two of his children being also named in the inscription. 
Two flat thrughs, which much need help from the mason, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 325 

commemorate two sons of the mallet and chisel : John 
Forest died 22nd May 1784, aged 45 ; and James Tait died 
24th February 1784, aged 43, with his wife, Nicholas M'Quhae, 
their three infants, and Adam, their son, died 11th September, 
1824, aged 45. 

As already noticed, numerous subjects of King Crispin lie 
in the extensive section that stretches behind the Church, 
and several others remain to be added to the list : Walter 
Locke, shoemaker, died 10th July 1807, aged 71 ; Grace 
Bitson, his spouse ; and Bobert, their son, a member of the 
same craft, died 29th January 1831, aged 55, lie below a 
table monument, which also bears the following names : 
Walter, another son, who died at 14; Walter Kennan, 
writer, a grandson, died 25th July 1818, aged 20 ; Mary, their 
daughter, died 10th February 1833, aged 58 ; and Isabella, 
another daughter, died 8th June 1836, aged 61. Headstone 
memorials rise in memory of James Eichardson, died 5th 
April 1833, aged 35 ; of William Breck, died 7th August 1819, 
aged 70 ; and of James Ferguson, died 7th September 1837, 
aged 58. The stone which commemorates the last-named 
Crispinite bears also the names of his spouse, Janet Boddick, 
of their children, six in number, who died young ; of James 
Boddick, also a shoemaker, and probably the father of Janet, 
died 26th December 1809, aged 58, and of Jean Bae, his 
wife ; also the names of their seven children, including 
Euphemia and James, who both died at the age of 51. A 
youthful cordwainer, John Martin, died 15th September 
1801, aged 17, receives the following commendation on the 
humble stone which marks his grave : " He was a dutiful 
and affectionate son, an honest and industrious apprentice, 
and much regretted by all his acquaintances." 

Further west a little rise two handsome headstones, one 
bearing the names of James M'Clure, died 10th November 
1872, aged 73, his wife, Jean Anderson, and their son Bobert, 
aged 25 ; the other erected by another son, John, an indus- 
trious master shoemaker, ''in memory of Jane James, his 
beloved wife," died 24th June 1864, aged 42, and two of 
their infant children. 



326 MKMOBIALS OF ST. IHCHAXL's. 

Fronting the east walk stands a neat headstone dedicated 
to Thomas Kirkpatrick, boot and shoe maker, died 20ih 
January 1867, aged 73, his children, Robert Kirkwood, aged 
23, and two who died in infancy ; and along the same line 
appear three other similar stones, which rise in memory of 
other relations as follows: Samuel Kirkpatrick, Trohough- 
town, died 13th July 1875, aged 83, with Janet Carmthers, 
his spouse, and Jane, their daughter, aged 56 ; John Kirkpat- 
rick, Trohoughtown, died 22d July 1844, aged 22 ; Janet, his 
youthful niece ; Isabella Kirkpatrick, spouse of John M'Gaffie, 
died 9th February 1854, aged 33 ; Thomas Kirkpatrick, died 
at Bush of Craigs, 10th April 1823, aged 67 ; Jean Eskdale, 
his spouse, died at Wellgreen ; John Ireland, who died there 
also 18th February 1855, aged 74; Margaret Kirkpatrick, 
his spouse, with their daughter Isabella, aged 9 ; John Kirk- 
patrick, blacksmith, died at Wintruphead, 2d October 1867, 
aged 70 ; Jane Carmthers, his wife ; and John, their infant son. 

After a long useful life as chaplain of several public insti- 
tutions, the Bey. George Ck)wans died 15th August 1874, 
age about 75. We are ^reminded of his venerable figure, his 
many amiable characteristics, and his dutiful professional 
services, by a neat tombstone bearing his name and that of 
his wife, Anne "Watson, who went away before him so long 
ago as 26th November 1848. As both died full of faith and 
hope, very appropriate is the apostrophe from Holy Writ put 
upon the stone. " I shall be satisfied when I awake with 
Thy likeness." The various offices left vacant by Mr. Cowans 
are now worthily occupied by the Eev. William N. Dodds. 

Commemorated by other headstones in this subdivision 
lie the following : Thomas Robison, died 21st January 1837, 
aged 69, and his brother James, billet-master, died 6th 
November 1837, aged 72; William Thompson, Kirkgate, 
Dumfries, died 18th February 1800, aged 85, with Elspeth 
Caird, his spouse; "Mrs. Mary Sturgeon,'* daughter of 
Andrew Sturgeon, Prestonmill, Elirkbean, died 18th De- 
cember 1849, aged 60 ; also Bryce Mary Laidlaw Moncrieff, 
wife of D. W. M'Master, died at Greenock 12th March 
1857 ; William Kerr, carter, died 15th July 1836, aged 73, 



MEMORIALS OF ST. HICHAEL's. 327 

with his two wives^ Agnes Nivison and Margaret Balling, 
his brother, Eobert Kerr, gardener, died 4th October 1811, 
aged 38, also Janet Jones, died at Liverpool 16th October 
1868, aged 67, and Mary Kerr, died 26th April 1876, aged 
80, " daughters of the above f Thomas Tait, died 7th June 
1868, aged 70, with Ann Dobie, his spouse, and their 
children — ^Mary Ann died in childhood, Alexander at 20, 
William at 23, and Margaret at 42 ; Bridget Simpson, wife 
of Bobert Shanks, shoemaker, died 13th November 1845, 
aged 36 ; Alexander "Wallace, died 20th November 1816, 
aged 65, with Elizabeth Colvin, his spouse, and an infant 
granddaughter; George Haining, tailor, died 14th March 
1843, aged 40, with Janet Sorbie, his spouse ; George Turner, 
rope manufacturer, Maxwelltown, died 23d January 1858, 
aged 54, with Elizabeth Mitchell, his spouse ; the following 
children of Andrew Ballantine, shoemaker, Maxwelltown — 
Mary, wife of John Eichardson, mason, died 30th September 
1832, aged 31, Williamina died at 26, and two cut off in 
infancy. 

Within a neatly kept compartment rises a handsome head- 
stone in memory of James Clark M'Lachlan, bookbinder, 
died 10th September 1852, Helen Mundell, his wife, their 
children — Helen M'Kinnel, Eobert, and Helen, cut off in 
early years, Jane Clark died at 20, Allan Anderson at 23, 
AllflTi at 26, and William Mundell at 41, also two youthful 
grandchildren, William and Helen Mundell, the offspring of 
James M'Lean. A neat scroll-surmounted headstone com- 
memorates Jane Taylor, wife of William Neilson, painter, 
died 24th November 1864, aged 34, and two of her infant 
children. Another similar monument is thus inscribed : 
" Erected by acquaintances and f ellowjworkmen in memory 
of John Tait, for many years warehouseman at Eingholm 
Mills," died 28th July 1869, aged 32; his wife's name, 
Mary M'Kenzie, also appearing in the inscription. On a 
neat upright erection we read of James and Thomas, youth- 
ful children of Samuel Tinning. Ann, infant daughter of 
Eobert Paul, wiiter, is borne in remembrance by a pretty 
miniature memorial ; and a larger one near it is ornate with 



328 MSHOIUALB OF ST. MICHABL's. 

flooiuhed letters in memorj of an aged matron, Jane yicara, 
relict of Sim<m Ewart, merchant, Brampton, died lat October 
1776, aged 82. 

A graceful Uttle monoment bears within its letf -fringed 
tablet the name of John MH}ormick, shoemaker, died 17th 
October 1861, aged 70 ; also that of Mary Herries, his wife, 
died 16th NoTember 1866, aged 66. Mr. MHIkffmick was a 
shrewd, sagadoos, intelligent man, and more especially noted 
for his knowledge of local history and antiquities, on which, 
topics it was quite a pleasure to hear him discourse. The 
following tribute to his memory appeared at the date of his 
death in the Dumfriet Standard: — ^^Mr. M'Cormick was 
<me of our few remaining inhabitants who remembered 
Robert Bums : once, when quite an infant, he lay cradled in 
his arms; and the figure of the poet, as seen afterwards, 
failing and sad — ^the shadow of his former self — ^was daguer- 
reotyped on the mind's eye of the youth, and never after^ 
wards forgotten while life remained. The deceased had a 
power greater than any one we ever knew of reproducing, 
with the minutest details and the greatest freshness, inci- 
dents <^ this kind that came within his own experience at 
the most distant period. It was this that gave a charm to 
his oonTersation and a value to his pictures <^ the past. 
Many an unwritten record of our Burgh, and chronicle of 
bygone times, have gone down with him to the dust It is 
said that when the poet dies, ''mute Nature mourns her 
worshipper ;' and in accordance with this fine fancy, we can 
weU suppose that the relics of (dd Dumfries, and the ruins of 
moated towers and mouldering fanes in the vicinity, have 
become greyer by his demise — that Devorgilla's hoary 
Bridge, the venerable Mid-Steeple, the wasted turrets of 
Carlaverock, tlie time-worn walls of Linduden, and the 
sacred tables of the martyred saints near which his remains 
were laid in St. Michael's ancient burial-ground on Monday 
last, will miss the good old man who viewed these, and all 
mementoes of a former age, with such lively and loving 
interest, and that they will feel more lonely in decay since 
he is gone. Mr. M'Oormick will, at all ev^its, be missed 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 329 

and mourned by the wide circle of friends who honoured 
him for his varied acquirements^ who looked up to him as 
an oracle on all local matters^ who admired his consistent 
Christian character, and respected him for his moral worth." 

William, infant son of John M'Gormick; B. M'C. K. 
Gillies, infant son of his son-in-law, Mr. Bobert Gillies, en- 
graver; and John de Bryce Gillies, another soo, cut off 
before he was six years old, are also named in the in- 
scription. 

We pause for a while in front of a tall, graceful pointed 
shaft bearing the honoured name of James Broom, which is 
also inscribed upon the family tombstone adjoining it on the 
south. The latter monument commemorates Andrew Black, 
merchant, died 30th November 1785, aged 40 ; Bailie Jose;^ 
Broom, merchant, died 30th September 1813, aged 58 ; also 
the following children of the latter by Jean Johnstone, who 
had for first husband the said Andrew Black — ^William and 
Bobert, who died in infancy; Joseph, who died 28th 
January 1818, aged 17; John, merchant, who died 27th 
March 1822, aged 33 ; Jean, died 21st February 1835, age 
not given ; James, Town-Clerk, died 18th January 1842, aged 
46. Lastly appears the name of Jean Johnstone, mother of 
the Town-Clerk, died 26th January 1843, at the advanced age 
of 84. The chief monument bears only the following words : 
" Sacred to the memory of James Broom, Town-Clerk of Dum- 
fries, bom 2l8t August 1795, died 18th January 1842." 

We well recollect the mournful sensation which the early 
death of Mr. Broom occasioned throughout the district. He 
was about the ablest and certainly the most popular man of 
his day in Dumfries ; had done much service as a social and 
political reformer, and as he had just reached the prime 
of life, and looked robust as weU as young, his friends 
fondly anticipated that a long course of further usefulness 
lay before him ; and when his career was abruptly cut short, 
great was the lamentation for the loss of one who was the 
charm of private circles, not less than the courageous leader 
of public opinion. When the sad event occurred, the writer 
of these '^ Memorials 'I penned a notice of the deceased 



330 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

gentleman, which was published in the Dvmfries TimeSy and 
from which he may, perhaps, be allowed to quote the follow- 
ing passage: 

''Our pen trembles on the page as it records an event 
which brings to our minds and those of many, all the 
poignancy of a private loss, and all the pressure of a public 
calamity ; it is the fate of one who has just passed away 
from the midst of living men — who has perished in his prime 
— smote down in the summei: of his strength, and in the full 
maturity of his manhood, and from a sphere of usefulness 
which, bounded by no narrow limits, was yet overstepped by 
the worth and wisdom, the warmth of heart, and vigour of 
intellect so pre-eminently his own. A few days before, and 
who so blithe, and busy in benevolence as he ? who so active 
in concerting schemes of general improvement, in planning 
and perfecting measures of local utility 1 who so dutiful as a 
citizen ? who so forward in the career of general philanthropy? 
And now the silver cord is loosed; the golden bowl is 
broken at the fountain. The 'bustling spirit' has been 
quenched in the ' apathy of cold obstruction ;' and in a few 
days more he will be lowered to his lonely dwelling ; earth 
will be committed to earth and dust to dust. On his grave 
will blossom the firstlings of the spring ; and over his ashes 
they will raise the ' storied urn or monumental bust,' but let 
no one write an epitaph for James Broom ; his memoiy needs 
it not. Let these be kept for common men who require some 
such token to snatch their names from f orgetfulness ; his is 
embalmed in the hearts of thousands, who have enjoyed his 
society, who have tasted the sweets of his friendship, who 
have shared hia bounty, who have caught his smile of en- 
couragement, who have profited by his wisdom, and who 
need neither the fancy of the poet nor the chisel of the 
sculptor to point out worth which they have witnessed — to 
fan the fire of gratitude for goodness which they have experi- 
enced His politics were such as sprung from a 

sensitive mind which taught him to condemn the encroach- 
ments of class privilege on the rights of labour ; and he did 
not scruple to proclaim in season and out of season, the title 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 331 

of all to participate in the privileges of freemen. The moral 
coorage which in this respect and in similar cases he exhibi- 
ted formed a conspicuous feature in his character, and the 
only enemies perhaps which he had are referable to it, and 
probably because he was one of the pioneers and long the 
leading advocate of the temperance movement in the district. 
But this quality, so displayed, if it reared up a few enemies, 
brought round him a host of admirers. By the bold stand 
which he made against the drinking usages of the country 
he effected an amount of good which few individuals are 
privileged to perform, and he was ready to back out the 
principles which he advocated by the contents of his purse 
on all occasions. Whilst assiduous both by precept and 
example to rescue the victims of intemperance, not a few are 
indebted to him not only for being drawn from the ensnaring 
vice, but for assistance and encouragement in beginning life 
anew. His intellectual powers were of the most versatile 
description. His reading and literary research took within 
their range the circle of the beUes lettres, and treatises in all 
the departments of practical science; the fruits of which, 
garnered up in his own mind, were given out to others with 
facile profusion. As a man of business, his shrewdness of 
penetration and promptitude of decision were unequalled; 
and as a speaker, his humour, his earnestness, and artlessness 
won him golden opinions, and aided in swelling the tide of 
his popularity." 

Mr. Broom died immarried ; and the only member of 
Bailie Joseph Broom's family now surviving is Mrs. M'Kie 
of Moat House, widow of Provost M'Kie, and sister of the 
deceased Town-Clerk. 

Table monuments to the following tradesmen and others 
also appear in this portion of the grounds : Walter Johnston, 
joiner, died 14th January 1794, aged 33, with Ann Bruce, 
his spouse ; their offspring — Stewart Bruce, died at 8, John 
at 5, and two infant children ; John Glover, mason, died 
16th October 1825, aged 48, with Ann Johnston, his 
spouse ; Walter Glover, mason, died 9th February 1843, 
aged 34 ; James Walker, mason, died 18th November 



332 USH0RIAL8 OF ST. HICZIASL's. 

1804, aged 76, with Janet Todd, his spouse, JameS;, 
their son, shoemaker, died 16th March 1797, aged 44, 
with Mary Craik, his spouse, and five of their infant 
children ; John Tinning, joiner, Nunholm, died 9th January 
1807, aged 80, with Mary Graham, his wife, their sons, 
Christopher died 6th June 1837, aged 72, John, farmer 
in Caimfield, died 9th December, 1858, aged '70, with 
Jean Morine, his spouse, James died at Netherwood 19th 
February 1861, aged 28; George Kirkpatrick died 20th 
December 1777, aged 66, with Mary Hill, hia spouse, and 
John, their son, died 19th January, 1837, aged 85 ; John 
Brown, merchant, died 28th March 1816, aged 67, with Mary 
Warick, his wife, their children, Mary died at 3, Ann at 7, 
and a second Mary at 38 ; Bobert Jefferson died 14th May 
1821, aged 51, with Jean Sharp, his spouse, David, their son, 
a writer, died 12th August 1820, aged 22, and their other 
children, William, Mary, and Eobert, whose ages are not 
recorded ; Andrew Corrie, of Parkfoot, died 25th July 1823, 
aged 78, with Janet Eirkpatrick, his spouse, their children, 
John, died at Dalbeattie 14th February 1857, aged 66, Janet 
died in childhood, and Adam, a grandson, died May 26th 
1843, aged 31 ; Gabriel Wilson, died 25th June 1756, aged 
80, with Isabel M'Whan, hia spouse, their daughter, Mary, 
died 22d March 1825, aged 75, his sister, Margaret, died 
15th February 1790, aged 60 ; William Dalrymple, died 14th 
October 1786, aged 18, and Dorothy, his sister, died 19th May 
1823, aged 17. 

A few headstone memorials in this division remain still to 
be noticed ; the first of them standing some yards to the 
west, the others nearer the footpath boundary on the east. 
Esther Martin, spouse of Sergeant-Major David Wright. 
Dying 23d March, 1844, aged 54, she is stated to have 
been "an affectionate wife and an indulgent mother, who 
lived respected and died regretted." The stone commemor- 
ates also her husband, died 17th January 1847, aged 65, 
also David Denholm, infant son of David Kirkpatrick. 
Sergeant John Smith of the Boyal Artillery finds a sleeping 
comer in this land of peace, with a little stone sentinel 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 333 

watching over him which^ however, could do nothing to ward 
off the ravages of decay : he died 9th May 1841, at the age 
of 66 ; Janet Milligan, his spouse, with their progeny, Mary 
an infant, Janet, aged 19, Nicholas, aged 48, and Ann, aged 
64, reposing beside him. 

John Barber, baker, who died of cholera 4th October 1832, 
aged 55, is named on a neat monument, also Hannah Find- 
later, his spouse. . Another stone commemorates Mary Miller, 
spouse of Eobert Crosbie, died 15th June 1860, aged 68 ; also 
Robert Crosbie, died at Trinchinopoly, East Indies, 14th 
April 1834, aged 28 ; also Maryann, spouse of Joseph Grier- 
son, mason, died 5th July 1842, aged 29 ; and of James, their 
son, died at Hanley, Staffordshire, 8th January 1846, aged 28. 
A worthy operative tailor, John Murdoch, died 21st February 
1848, aged 40, is named on a neat headstone, also his three 
young children, and Agnes, wife of John Shaw, currier. 
Humbler stones rise in memory of WUliam Watt, sawyer, 
died 28th May 1794, aged 37 ; of John Grindal, cork cutter, 
died of cholera 10th October 1832, aged 44, his spouse 
Dorothy, and their son John died 3d December 1848, aged 
28. A united series of little headstones fronting the east 
walk tells of Charles Anderson, saddler, loosed from life's 
harness 19th June 1810, aged 60 ; of his wife Elizabeth 
Coggan, their children — James, another saddler, died 29th 
September 1832, aged 60, Charles, who followed the same 
traxie, died 3d October 1832, aged 32, Janet died 8th October 
in the same fatal year, aged 28, all three of cholera ; also of 
James Anderson's two wives, Elizabeth Anderson, and Janet 
Martin. Thus within a very small compass of the Cemetery 
there are laid five victims of the destructive epidemic. 




BEHIND THB CHURCH — CONCLUDBD. 

'£ have now to point out the earthy beds of the last 
of the trade magnates that remain to be noticed. 
James Hule^ Deacon of the Tailors, died 28th May 
1770, aged 64, lies near the footpath on the east, with his spouse, 
Margaret Smith, under an altar-stone erected by William 
Bamsay, their son-in-law, who in course of time also became 
Deacon of the same craft : Ann Bule, wife of Deacon Eamsay, 
died 1st May 1808, aged 53, and two of their infant children, are 
also named in the inscription. Below a similar stone, a few 
steps westward, rest John Colvin, Deacon of the Squaremen, 
died 2d ^pril 1829, aged 66 ; his wife, Mary Burgess ; their 
children, three infants, and Bobert, a hosier, aged 23 ; also his 
two infant grandchildren, the offspring of William Ck)lvin. fie 
is neighboured by John Swan, Deacon of the same trade, 
died 30th April 1731, aged 40, who is commemorated in a 
similar way; also his wife, Margaret Brown, and their son 
John, a writer, died 12th February 1758, aged 30. Near 
the Kennedy altar-stone rises a headstone in memory of 
another member of the family, William Kennedy, Deacon 
of the Skinners, died 17th April 1790, aged 74. Finally, 
we reach the altar memento of Deacon Fraser Bichardson, 
to whom the buirdly Fleshers owned allegiance. Struck 
down by cholera, he died 7th October 1832, aged 70 ; 
buried beside him lie his two wives, Jean Walker and Janet 
Black, with seven of his children, the eldest of whom were 
Margaret, aged 4, Jean 11, and James 16. 

Before, however, bidding adieu to the chiefs of the Blue 
Blanket, we must borrow from the Courier what is said about 
one of them. Deacon Johnston, who has been a tenant in St. 
Michael's for well nigh half a century, though we have been 
unable to fmd out the precise ''room'' which he occupies. 
Our necrology of the trade officials will be rendered less 
incomplete by the addition to it of the following narrative : — 

'' Old Deacon Johnston, who lived in the reigns of four 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 335 

kings, who was a lad of 17, when Prince Charles and his 
Highlanders visited Dumfries, to mulct the inhabitants in a 
round siim, and were driven away by an excellent ruse, 
which magnified the mists that rose from Lochar Moss, into 
a moving mass of hostile bayonets, paid the debt of nature 
on Monday the 7th January 1828 ; and on Thursday the 11th, 
his remains were borne and followed to the grave by a 
numerotis assemblage of hammermen and others, who had 
previously assembled in the Trades' Hall, and walked in pro- 
cession to the Friars' Vennel, with the view of paying every 
respect to his memory. If his coffin-lid spoke truth, a 
whole century had rolled over his head, and he had. thus 
witnessed many marvels, and among others, the sun rise and 
set, and the moon wax and wane in the heavens — ^in the one 
instance, thirty-six thousand, five hundred, and in the other 
thirteen hundred and odd times. His span, in fact, embraced 
very nearly fourteen years of Sabbaths, and as he was a 
regular church-goer from a mere boy, until he became very 
old and somewhat deaf, it seems not improbable that, fore- 
noon and afternoon, he had paid nine thousand visits to St. 
Michael's Church, and listened to twice the number of lec- 
tures and sermons. His father who was a saddler, bred his 
son to the same trade, but he soon changed it for the more 
laborious occupation of a blacksmith ; and never had Vulcan 
a better representative ; never did the anvil ring, the bellows 
roar, and the forge blaze under the iniSiuence of " thews and 
sinews," that more truly resembled iron itself in the great 
quality of wearing weU. In town and countiy the heaviest 
sort of smith-work was assigned to the Deacon, and though 
the tools he used were of the most primitive description, 
he was allowed to be a very passable tradesman. Time, 
which bends the stoutest frames, appeared to make little 
impression on his ; and when we observed the patriarch of 
98 walking as erect, if not so nimbly, as the youth of 20, the 
idea sometimes crossed our minds that he possessed some 
secret, unknown to the faculty, of welding and repairing 
the numerous cracks and flaws occasioned by the tear and 
wear of humanity. As father of the Seven Incorporations,* 



336 MSHORIALB OF ST. HIGHASL's. 

the "old Deacon'' figured at all the merrj-makings held 
by the Trades, and it was pleasing to witness the polite 
attentions that were uniformly paid to him by his younger 
brethren. Though no maker of speeches himself, he lent a 
greedy ear to the remarks of others, and few men who lived 
in the reign of George III. evei* pledged so many bumpers to 
his Majesty's health. At the shooting too, for the ^ Siller 
Gun/' the deceased was always an object of interest, 
with his cocked hat, snow-white wig, buckled shoes, and 
garments altogether made after the fashion of the olden 
times. His local attachments all centred in the town of 
Dumfries, and more particularly in that fraternity of which 
he was the eldest and most cherished member ; and the man 
who ventured, in sport or spite, to say a single word against 
the Trades, had formerly great occasion to keep out of his 
way, unless he happened to own a head as unsusceptible of 
dwrti as the studdy on which the Deacon's hammer descended. 

The Deacon was at one time a married man, but his children 
died in infancy, and as his wife also pre-deceased him, he led 
for a coDsiderable number of years what we may call the lonely 
life of a widower. For a very long period he was a master 
blacksmith, and had good employment ; but he never saved 
any money. Though decent, honest, and of an independent 
spirit, he was easy to a fault on the score of wealth ; and it 
of course took a good deal to keep at bay the only salamander 
known in modem times — ^the spark generated in the black- 
smith's throat. His constitution was so good that he, per- 
haps, never had a head-ache in his life ; yet his health was 
preserved rather in spite of, than by reason, of temperance ; 
and those who knew him best, affirm, that from the moment 
he drew his shoes on in the morning, he was always ready to 
take a giU of whkky ! 

The older class of Dumfriesians all recollect the Deacon's 
smithy at the end of the Old Bridge, and close by the side of 
the roaring cauL From this circumstance, he was as familiar 
with the Nith as if he had been bom and bred a water-kelpy 
remembered all the great spa^ and intense droughts that had 
occurred during a long succession of years, and could tell 



MEMORIALS OF ST.^ MICHASL's. 337 

every time the Town Mills had stopped, whether from an 
over or an under supply of water, as well as the occasions on 
which the ice was so strong and thick, that a fair might have 
been held, and a bullock roasted whole on the space that 
intervenes between the two bridges. Indeed his memory, 
stretching as it did into the ** dark postern of things long 
elapsed," was very useful on one occasion. Gleorge III. lived 
so long that while few had witnessed, numbers had forgotten 
the ceremony of proclaiming a new king. Our own Autho- 
rities were rather at a loss how to proceed, and therefore 
took counsel with the oldest man in the South of Scotland. 
The Deacon had heard two kings proclaimed before, and as 
he professed " to ken a' about it," his directions, we believe, 
were in a great measure followed on the imposing occasion. 

In the year 1791 Dumfries was convulsed with k contested 
election. Annandale was for one candidate, Nithsdale for 
another, and as this town happened to be the returning 
burgh, the Deacon, when the day of voting arrived, observed 
in passing along the High Street, a considerable body of bor- 
derers mounted, and drawn up in something like regular 
order. The people called them " Sharpens shooters," and the 
Deacon after surveying the band for a moment, exclaimed, 
" Ay, ay, lads — ^what's a' this, what's a' this ? ye look very 
like afi ye wanted a mischief ; but if ye're no aff in half an 
hour I'll hing out the blw blanket ! and set the Seven Trades 
aboot your lugs." This speech had the desired e£Eect : the 
offending steeds were stabled forthwith, and perhaps the 
Deacon's presence of mind contributed to preserve the peace 
of the town, and avert the calamity of a score or two of 
broken heads. 

Even when a man of 95 or 96, the deceased supported him- 
self by honest industry. When unfit for heavy work, he was 
still able to make or mend a lock, and many persons were so 
considerate and humane that they paid him handsomely for 
what they could have got cheaper done elsewhere. More 
recently, he depended for subsistence on the '' Box Funds,'^ 
and the donations of those who had known him in the prime 

and vigour of his days. In October last, '' The Caledonian 

V 



338 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

Hunt" sent him a present of £5, and for the credit of the 
place it deserves to be stated, that though he uniformly 
refused to go into the Hospital, he enjoyed to the last all the 
necessaries, and even many of the comforts of life, A few 
weeks ago, he was menaced or raised by a chased bull, and 
in attempting to get out of the way he fell and hurt himself 
on a heap of stones*. This accident confined him to the house, 
and there can be no doubt that the want of exercise and 
fresh air hastened his dissolution. Had he been able to walk 
about as usual, it seems not improbable, from his great hale- 
ness, that he would have lived half-a-dozen years longer." 

Between the Inglis monument on the north-east and 
the Smyth memorial on the south (described in a preceding^ 
chapter), stand a few stones that remain to be noticed^ 
after overtaking which and one or two others near them we 
shall terminate our tour of the Old Ground at the Martyrs' 
Tombstones, a few feet further west. 

Two stately table-stones mark the family grave plot 
of David Mitchell, " residenter " in Dumfries, and of 
Kirklandmoat ; and of a related family. He died 11th 
October 1780, aged 51 ; his wife, Jean Eichardson ; their 
son John, who died in Montegp Bay, Jamaica, 8th September 
1794^ aged 24 ; and an infant granddaughter, are also named 
in one of the inscriptions. The other commemorates William 
Samson, mason, brother of the builder who was partner in the 
firm of Samson and M'Kaig, and whose monument we have 
already noticed — date of death, 11 th June 1794, age 66 ; 
also his wife, Jean Kerr ; David, their son, who occupied the 
farm of High Kelton, where he died, aged 65, date not men- 
tioned ; his wife, Elizabeth Mitchell ; John M. Samson, 
eldest son of David, died in the East India Company's service 
at Calcutta, aged 22 ; and his other sons David, who died 
when 24, and James, when 23. For many years these stones 
were in a dilapidated condition, but an inscription states they 
were " re-erected and renewed" by Jane Samson, the " affec- 
tionate daughter " of David Samson, who thus set a good exam- 
ple, which, if extensively followed, would give a new aspect to 
many time-worn memorials that are met with in St. Michael's. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 33d 

The name Kennedy, in connection with the nursery trade^ 
has long been well known in Dumfries. Several members of 
the family are commemorated by the next altar-stone which 
comes under our notice : James Kennedy, died I7th Novem- 
ber 1824, aged 61 ; Mary Eonald, his spouse ; John, their 
son, lost at sea when on his passage home from Quebec, 19th 
December J806, aged 20 ; Jane Knowles, his daughter-in- 
law, spouse of James Kennedy, junior, nursery and seeds- 
man, died 22d February 1855, aged 63. One of the tiniest of 
tombstones rises near by, treasuring the memory of Geoi^e 
W. Kennedy, 3 years old. 

Another table is dedicated to the memory of William Dick, 
died 10th September 1851, aged 72 ; Charlotte Aitken, his 
spouse ; also, Elizabeth Aitken, " the beloved wife " of J. B. 
Crosbie, died 26th September 1865, aged 52. Ralph Hilliard 
Ball, jeweller, died 7th February 1842, aged 27 ; and his 
sister, Mary, died 8th March 1847 (age not recorded), are also 
named upon the monument 

Mrs. Dick, who died 24th December, 1853, aged 66, carried on 
an extensive business as a confectioner and pastry cook, and her 
establishment in English Street was for many years a famous 
school in which young ladies were taught the culinary art. 
Not a few of her pupils who are now matrons remember her 
gratefully on account of her valuable professional instruc- 
tions and kindly disposition. ' While as regards old national 
dishes Mrs. Dick was not inferior to the renowned Mrs. 
Margaret Dods of St. Eonan's, her cuidne embraced such 
modem dainties as M. Soyer might have been proud of ; the 
precepts given in the old play receiving from her all due 

consideration. 

" Cook, see all your sauces 
Be shftrp and pregnant to the palate. 
That they may commend you. 
Look to your roast and boiled meats handsomely ; 
And what new kickshaws and delicate made things 
You deal with." 

In the list of contributors to the Jacobite levy of ;£1000, 
appears the name of John Johnston, merchant, who is down 
for two shillings sterling. It is his table tombstone, we pre- 
sume^ that rises next to the above, as it bears the same name^ 



340 MEHORIALB OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

and designation, age 76, and date of death 25th October, 1783. 
Mention is also made in the inscription of Janet Johnston, 
his spouse ; of John Lyel, merchant, died 5th April 1796, 
aged 80 ; of Jane, niece of John Johnston, and wife of 
William Wightman, died 18th April, 1810, aged 72 ; and 
of John Wightman, mariner, died 27th February, 1851, 
aged 74. 

Within an adjoining enclosure appears a table-stone in 
memory of Joseph Bruce, blacksmith, died 21st December 
1825, aged 79 ; of Agnes Ker, his wife ; of their progeny — 
Mary died 18th October 1843, aged 67 ; Isabella, died 6th 
February 1848, aged 71 ; and of two other children who died 
young. Several members of a related family are commemo- 
rated on another table-stone in the same plot : James Sinclair, 
bookseller (brother of Bailie John Sinclair), died 8th May 
1825, aged 46 ; Catherine Bruce, his wife, died 31st December 
1841, aged 61 ; their sons — Thomas, died 9th January 1832, 
aged 20 ; John, assistant-surgeon to H.M.S. Excellent, died 
at Titchfield, 26th October 1840, aged 27 ; and James, died 
at Calcutta, 12th July 1854, aged 29. A little headstone in 
the same compartment bears the names of Thomas and 
Agnes, two other children of James Sinclair, both of whom 
died young. 

John Sinclair's death was the result of an accident. Thrown 
out of a gig on the above day, whilst proceeding from Ports- 
mouth to Southampton, he survived only a few hours. Being 
extremely amiable and accomplished, his sad fate caused 
much sorrow throughout his native district. While receiving 
commemoi-ation from the family tombstone, a unique and 
splendid memorial of him appears on the opposite bank of 
the Nith in the Observatory at Corbelly, which contains 
among its treasures Currie's celebrated group of Old Mor- 
tality, busy with chisel and mallet repairing a Cameronian 
tombstone, while the venerable Pony wtich bore him on his 
journeys grazes by his side. Within the enclosure which 
protects the figure, there is placed the following inscription : 

"la memory of John Sinclair, M.D., assistant-surgeon, R.N., bom 
at DomfrieB, 6th April 1814, died at Titchfield, Hampshire, 26th 



icEMoaiALS OF ST. highael's. 341 

October, 1840. The sculptures here deposited were conceived and 
executed by our native artist, Mr. John Currie, disposed of by lottery, 
25th October, 1840, and the prize drawn in name of Dr. John Sinclair, 
a youth beloved by all, of high promise, and superior talents. By a 
mournful accident, he died the lollowing day, and the figures of Old 
Mortality and his Pony were presented to the Dumfries and Maxwell- 
town Observatory, in fulfilment of his intentions. They are here 
finally placed as a memorial to departed worth, a present to the 
public, and a token of attachment to the place of his birth.*' 

In this singular way the artistic masterpiece, which com- 
memorates old Robert Paterson's labour of love among the 
tombs^ has itself become an enduring monument to a gentle- 
man who well merited such an honour. 

Of Mr. James Sinclair's family there are two survivors, 
Mrs. Porteous, and Mr. Joseph Sinclair, the latter long a 
most useful citizen of Dumfries, but for some years past 
obliged by delicate health to reside at a distance from his 
native town in a milder climate. 

Arriving next at a very graceful old structure, we read 

upon its marble tablet of a wedded pair, who seem to have 

realized Middleton's fine ideal of the matrimonial state : 

** What a delicious breath marriage sends forth ! 
The violet's bed's not sweeter. Honest wedlock 
Is like a banqueting house built in a garden. 
On which the Spring's chaste flowers take delight 
To cast their modest odours." 

The epitaph is in the following terms : 

"To the memory of John Aikin, writer in Dumfries, of his truly 
valued and beloved wife Jane M'Dowall, and of their infant daughter 
Jane M'Dowall Aikin. This marriage formed a congeniality of sen- 
timent and soul, from a Ions and steady attachment, from friendship 
and from love, was dissolved on the 2l8t February 1794, by the death 
of a fond and tender mother, aged Si years, and indissolubly re- 
united on the 16th July, 1806, by the deaui of a revered father aged 
52 vears. Her virtues and accomplishments, his talents and liberality 
seldom equalled, were in them united an object of respect and esteem 
to all." . J 1- 

These words recall to us CrashaVs beautiful little poem 
"Upon husband and wife who died and were buried together." 

To those whom Death again did wed. 
This grave's the second marriage-bed. 
For though the hand of Fate could force, 
Twixt soul and body a divorce. 
It could not sever man and wife. 
Because they both lived but one life ; 
Peace good reader, do not weep, 
Peace, the lovers are asleep I 



(( 



342 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

They (sweet tnrtles) folded lie 
In the last knot that love could tie. 
Let them sleep, let them sleep on, 
Till this stormy night he gone 
And th* eternal morrow £iwn ; 
Then the curtains will he drawn. 
And they wake into a light 
Where day shall never die in night.** 

Mr. James Aikin, the well-known and estimable Liverpool 
shipowner and merchant^ is one of the fruits of the union 
that is so poetically depicted in the epitaph. The noble copy 
in marble of the Medicean Venus which enriches the Dum- 
fries Observatory was a gift from Mr. Aikin to that institu- 
tion ; and in not a few other ways besides he has manifested 
a hearty interest in his native town. 

More of his forebears are named on an old table stone near 
by. The words " Here lyes Rodger Aitkin, who died Feb. 
13 1734, aged 46 years," appear upon it in very antique let- 
tering. Less ancient characters are employed to intimate 
that this is ^^The burial place of Boger Aikin, merchant, 
Dumfries, who died 9th March, 1787, aged 70. He brought 
up a large family, and left the world with credit." Jean 
M'Kie, his spouse, died 13th June 1795, aged 71, and Jean, 
daughter of Boger Aitkin, senior, died 18th April, 1819, aged 
70, are also named in the inscription. 

THE martyrs' stones. 

As a rule strangers who come to visit St. Michael's seek 
the shrine of Burns first, and then, after rendering fitting 
homage to the memory of the national bard, they pass on 
to muse in sympathetic mood over the Martyrs' Tombstones, 
three in number, which rise a few yards westward of the 
Mausoleum. These stones mark the thrice-hallowed ground 
where lie the relics of three men, of humble worldly con- 
dition, who contended heroically for great principles, suflFer- 
ing even to death in their defence, and who merit grateful 
remembrance from the succeeding generations that owe to 
them and others of similar stamp the blood-bought heritage 
of religious freedom. Beside these sacred memorial stones 
stands an imposing granite pyramid^ erected about forty 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 343 

years ago to shew in some degree the reverence which is 
cherished in modem days for the Nithsdale martyrs. The 
feeling which prompted the erection of this new monument 
merits high praise ; but up till a recent date its time-defying 
front contrasted strangely with the wasted aspect of the two 
old and incomparably more precious stones which it over- 
shadowed. With a view to their renovation, the following 
public appeal was made, dated 1st October 1872 : " The 
tombstones in St. MichaeFs Churchyard, erected in memory 
of William Grierson and William Welsh, two martyred 
Covenanters, are lying in a neglected condition, flat upon 
the ground, and so sadly weather-worn that their inscrip- 
tions are partly obliterated. Prompt repairs and protective 
arrangements are required to save them from utter wreck. 
The proposed mode of treatment is to lift the venerable 
mementoes, place new tables on the sites they occupy, then 
carefully fasten down the old stones upon the new tables, 
repair fractures, and touch up the' inscriptions." It was 
further intimated that small subscriptions towards the re- 
novation fund (large individual ones not being looked for, 
nor needed) would be thankfully received and duly acknow- 
ledged by one of the local editors. To this appeal a ready 
response was made, and early next year the stones were 
carefully " re-edified " in the way abeady explained ; while 
the wants of the third stone, which was in a comparatively 
good condition, were also attended to. The entire process 
of renovation was designed and executed by Mr. Thomas 
Watson. Better workmanship of the kind there could not 
be : they now look as if they were fit to endure for cen- 
turies; and the strength which they possess has not been 
given to them at the serious sacrifice of their antique char- 
acteristics, all of which that it was possible to preserve 
having been religiously retained. 

It was in the autumn of 1666, when the infamous Court 
of High Commission, as directed by Lauderdale and Sharpe, 
goaded our Presbyterian forefathers into an armed revolt, 
that the events occurred which gave martyrs' dust, with its 
dolour and glory, to St. Michaers Churchyard. Starting 



344 3CEM0RIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

from the village of Dairy, the insurgent force, resolute but 
small, marched upon Dumfries, seized Sir James Turner, the 
unscrupulous tool of the Government, at his head-quarters 
there ; then pushed forward, first to the "West country and 
next in the direction of Edinburgh, gathering strength as they 
passed along ; Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, an experienced 
officer. Maxwell, the young laird of Monreith, John Welsh, the 
outed minister of Irongray, two other preachers, William 
Yeitch, afterwards minister of Dumfries, and Hugh M^Kail 
of Ochiltree, being among the persons of note who joined 
the movement. Even with all its accessions it was the re- 
verse of formidable. What could a thousand men, not over 
well equipped, do against the tens of thousands by whom the 
despotism of the Government was upheld 1 Disappointed in 
their cherished hope that the Covenanters of the capital 
would secure for them an entrance into it and greatly recruit 
their ranks, the wandering host, heart-sore and weary, yet 
not quite forlorn, hied away to the Pentland Hills, there, on 
the tableland of Ruilion Green, to wait the attack of General 
Dalziel, who, they knew, had gone forth a-gainst them at the 
head of a powerful army. Outnumbered by more than three 
to one, the insurgents, after shewing marvellous gallantry, 
gave way at last, fifty of them falling on the field, and about 
one hundred and thirty of them surrendering as prisoners 
on receiving a promise that their lives would be spared. 
The Covenanters spared the persecutor Turner when his life 
was in their hands; and they would, at any stage before 
their final defeat, have thrown away their arms if liberty to 
worship God according to their consciences had been con- 
ceded to them. Nevertheless, no mercy was meted out to 
the captured remnant, or those stragglers from it whom the 
ruffian troopers of the State afterwards hunted down. The 
scaffold, as set up in the Grassmarket of Edinburgh, claimed 
numerous victims; twenty-five others were hanged or shot 
in the rural districts, "a, large proportion of them being 
natives of Nithsdale or Galloway, as many rude memorials 
scattered over our moorlands, hillsides, and churchyards 
still attest." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 345 

At this period the Dumfries authorities were, with scarcely 
an exception, partisans of the Government. The occupation 
of their Burgh by the insurgents excited their indignation ; 
and when the invading party took welcome leave, the magis- 
trates sent Bailie Stephen Irving to the Privy Council in 
Edinburgh with tidings of what had occurred, and the 
expression of a hope that the Covenanting rebels would be 
promptly dealt with. Just about a month after their over- 
throw, the Town Council met to exchange congratulations on 
the subject, and to dispose of two poor fugitives from Bullion 
Green, who, on returning to their native district, had been 
tracked, captured, and adjudged to death at Ayr, under 
instructions from the Government. As the prisoners had 
been apprehended within the jurisdiction of the Dumfries 
magistrates, the duty was assigned to them of carrying the 
capital punishment into effect ; and doubtless these gentlemen 
approved mightily of the arrangements, according to which 
the condemned traitors were to be ignominiously strangled, 
in the very town which had witnessed the recent triumph of 
their party. 

The meeting took place " within the Tolbooth of Dumfries, 
on Monday the last day of December, 1666 yeares," the said 
Tolbooth being situated on the east side of High Street, 
nearly opposite the Mid-Steeple. Thomas Irving, "Proveist," 
presided, supported by Bailie William M'Kittrick and 
Bailie Martin Newall. There were also present "James 
Hutchison, Dean, Thomas M'Kinnell, Conveinar, Jon Ewart, 
Thomas Bell, John Coupland, Edward Irving, Kichard 
Maxwell, John Irving, younger. Merchants ; and William 
M^innell, Thomas Newlands, Homer Andersone, James 
Wright, and Nicol Rae, Deacons.*' A message from the 
military tribunal that had tried the men was read, enjoining 
the magistrates " to sie their sentence for hanging the per- 
sonnes and affixing of the heides and right armes of Jon 
Grier in Fourmerkland and William Welsch in Carsfairne 
upon the eminenest pairts of this Burgh.'* After which, 
Provost Irving having taken the Council's advice regarding 
the latter part of the mandate, they *' condescendit that the 



346 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL'S. 

Bridge-port is the fittest place quere upon that the heids and 
armes should be afiized ; and therf oir appoynted them to be 
affixed on that place."* On the second day after these deli- 
berations the two men, whose fate was sealed, were taken 
from the felons' cell in the Tolbooth to the common place of 
execution at Crystal Mount, and there suffered the pains of 
martyrdom. Their identity with the martyrs of St. Michael's 
does not admit of question, as though one of the Christian names 
is given as John instead of William that must be set down 
as a clerical error ; and the family name Grier was then used 
as an equivalent for Grierson. After the heads and arms 
had been exposed for some weeks on Devorgilla*s Bridge 
rumours of a design to remove them reached the Council, 
and lest a plot should be carried into effect by the " disloyal 
personnes" who had planned it, the several relicts were by 
the gracious permission of Lauderdale removed for safety to 
the top of the Tolbooth ; and whether they were ever con- 
signed to the same resting-place as the mutilated bodies to 
which they belonged we know not. 

James Kirk or Kirka, of Sundaywell, Dunscore, the other 
martyr, who lies buried about ten yards north of his feUow- 
sufferers, was one of the last victims of the persecution in 
Nithsdale. Eighteen long years rolled by red with the 
slaughter of sainted men from the time when Grierson and 
Welsh were put to death till Kirk was called upon to share 
their fate and neighbour them in a bloody grave : dismal 
years, indeed, they were, as ever any poor doomed country- 
endured ; — 

" The years, the years, when Scotland groaned 
Beneath her tyrant's hand ; 
And it was not for the heather she was called 
* The purple land.* " 

No other charge, so far as we are aware, was ever brought 
against James Kirk, save that he was an uncompromising 
Covenanter, who, by attending field preachings, had exposed 
himself to the penalty of death. Betrayed by one James 
Wright into the hands of Captain Bruce while lurking in 

* Town Council minutes. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 347 

the parish of Keir^ he was carried by that infamous officer 
to Dumfries, detained one night, and next morning was 
brought forth and shot dead on the Whitesands. 

Soon after the Ee volution Settlement, which came only a 
few yeai-s too late to save the Sundaywell Covenanter, the 
feeling entertained in the district for the three martyrs was 
manifested by the erection over their remains of the stones 
we now see, and it found expression in the unsophisticated 
prose and rugged verse with which the memorials are in- 
scribed, and to the verdict given on which posterity has 
set its seal. 

On one of the stones we read as follows : 

" Here lyes William "Welsh, Pentland martyr, for his .adhereing to 
the Word of God, and appearing for Christ's Kingly Goverment in 
his House, and the Covenanted work of Beformation, against Per- 
jury and Frelacie. Execute, Janr. 2 : 1667. Bev. 12, 11. 

Stay passenger, read ; here interred doth ly 
A witness 'gainst poor Scotland's perjury. 
Whose head once nxd upon the bridge-port stood, 
Proclaiming vengeance for his guiltless olood." 

The next stone commemorates William Grierson, in the 
same form of words, also executed 2d January 1667, the 
versified epitaph running thus : 

" Under this stone lo, here doth ly 
Dust sacrificed to tyranny ; 
Yet precious in Immenull's sight 
Since martyr'd for His Kingly right. 
When He condemns these hellish druges. 
By suffrage saints shall judge their judges." 

An inscription along the border states that "This and the 
neighbouiing tombstone were re-erected and repaired by 
voluntary subscription in March 1873." 

The third stone is inscribed as follows ; 

" Here lyes James Kirka, martyr, shot dead, upon the Sands of 
Drumfreis, for his adhereing to the Word of God, and appearing for 
Christ's Kingly Goverment, in his House, and the Covenanted 
work of Beformation, against Tirranie, Perjurie, and Prelacie. 1685. 
—Rev. 12, 11. 

By hloody Bruce* and wretched Wright, 

I lost my life in great despight — 

*'* Mrs. Borne, who kept the town's tavern (Dumfries) in 1687 char^ 
the subjoined account against the Council that year : — * Spent with 
Lieutenant-Colonell Windram, Captaine Strauchane, Captain Bruce, 



348 UBM0R1AL8 OT ST. MICHAXL's. 

Shot dend without due time to try. 
And fitt me for eternity ; 
v» A wittneM of Prelatick rage, 

Afl ever wm in anie age." 

Among all the memorials with which St Michaers is 
crowded there ia none that wears a more durable aspect than 
the modem Monument to the Martyrs. It seems to say, 
like Tennyson's river, ''Men may come and men may go, 
but I live on for ever :" apparently defying change and decay 
— meet emblem of the cause for which the sufferers con- 
tended. Yet this massive pyramid, too, will crumble, 
perishing at the crack of doom, if not before, while their 
' principles, when freed from what is of the earth earthy, 

will outlive " the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds." 
The north side of the basement bears the following words : 

" The Martyra' Monument. Erected by the. voluntary contribu- 
tions of persons who revere the memory and admire the principles of 
the sufferers for conscience' sake during the Persecution in Scotland ; 
aided by a collection made at a sermon preached on the spot by the 
Bev. Wm. Symington of Stranraer, mdcccxxxiv." 

On the west there is the subjoined inscription, which con- 
veys but a very inadequate idea of the cause for which the 
Martyrs suffered : 

" Near this spot were deposited the remains of William Grierson 
and William Welsh, who suffered unto death for their adherence to 
the principles of the Beformation, Jan. 2nd, 1667. Also, of James 
Kirk, shot on the Sands of Dumfries, 1685. Bev. xii. 11." 

Many years ago the author, af tef " a meditation " on this 
pyramid of granite, penned an Address to Time, praying him 
to spare the Martyrs' Cairn, whatever else he might choose 
to destroy in the Cemetery around. With this Address, 
slightly abridged, we conclude the chapter. 

Leivetenant Lauder, Leivetenant Livingstone, six pynts of wine with 
tobacco and pypes, £6 9s 4d (Scots).* Here is a pretty batch of blood- 
stained Bacchanalians — convened, perhaps, to arrange over their 
cups for some fresh raid against the children of the Covenant. Of 
many cruel deeds Livingstone and Lauder were guilty ; and the 
above tavern score contrasts curiously with the rude elegy in St. 
Michael's Churchyard over the remains of James Kirk, who was shot 
on the Dimifries Sands in June 1685, at the bidding of one of the 
convivialists." — History of Dumfries, second edition, p. 422. The re- 
maining two of the same party, Windram and Strauchan, were con- 
cerned two years before in the drownipg of the two femaJe martyis 
in Blednoch Bay. 



HSU0BIAL8 OF ST. UICHABL's. 349 

Though well the chisel and the Isnre 

To consecrate the dead conspire, 

And hearts beloved are hushed below, ** 

Who merit all which these bestow ; 

Tet if thy i>ath must needs be traced 

Bv moulaering shrines and tombs defaced ; 

If these, which Art has called her own, 

But form a footstool for thy throne, 

To tremble 'neath thy tireless head. 

Then mingle with the insulted dead ; 

If thou can'st not thy foot refrain, 

Take these proud piles which crowd the plain ; 

But as thou would'st a blessing earn, 

Spare, spare the Martyrs' hallowed Caim. 

Memorial of that doughty band 
Whose blood so often dved the land. 
Of those who trod a toilsome path. 
Thorn-planted by the tyrant's wrath — 
Who nobly braved contempt and shame, 
Contending for Messiah's claim, 
And, leagued in brotherhood and love. 
For His Crown-Kights and Covenant strove. 

Witness, ye hills that point to heaven. 
How true the testimony given ! 
Witness, ye streams which calmly glide. 
How fearfully their faith was tried ! 
Witness, thou Vale of Nith so fair. 
Their hours of weariness and care. 
Their days of dread and nights of pain. 
When shelter there they sought in vain ! 
Thy dusky caves their shadows lent. 
Thy craggy glens their foliage bent: 
To hide within theur dim embrace 
The remnant of that stricken race. 
But cruel men have eagle eyes : 
They pierced the folds and found the prize. 

They found them with long watching tired. 

But yet with deep devotion fired — 

With haggard look and raiment torn — 

With visage marred and famine-worn, 

How wasted now, each stalwart frame ! 

But still their high resolve the same — 

To worship, though a host ^d nay. 

As conscience ^inted out the way : 

Their heart-stnngs held this birth-right fast- 

It was life's dearest boon and last ; 

In its blest exercise they fell, 

Sore smitten in the mountain dell. 

'Mid taunt and scorn they died — ^they died 

By desert stream and lone hillside. 

And this erey Pyramid was piled 
To keep their memory undenled. 



350 MXM ORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Thftt men nnbam mi^ht midentand 
The dabn of Scotland's martyred band. 
Then spare its stones, thou spoiler Time : 
To touch them were presnmptaoiis crime. 

The stem old man with scjrthe and glass 

Just pointed to the drooping grsas. 

Which winced and withered 'neath his frown : 

** So shall its stones be shaken down. 

I travel on : beneath my tread 

Earth's monumental piles are laid ; 

Though fools would to their tablets trust 

The records of the proud or just. 

And bright or bra?e achievement done, 

I triumph o*er them every one. 

So must this soaring structu re fail. 

And buried be its woeful tale. 

Swept from the r^;i8ter of years 

Its narratiye of blood and tears. 

In vain to harm it not you call : 

What reck I, if oblivion's pall 

Above these boasted Martyrs fall?" 

Then do thy worst. Though large thy boast. 
Their hallowed names shall ne'er be lost ; 
Their deeds, their wrestlings, their renown, 
Shall pass to latest ages down : . 
These cannot fall beneath thy sway, 
like this poor chronicle of clay. 

Long as heroic worth remains 
To thrill the pulse in human veins ; 
Long as thyself their fame shall last — 
Yea longer ; for when time is past, 
The Martyrs' memory shall not die : 
'TIS star-traced in yon cloudless sky. 




ST. Michael's church. 

XJR frontispiece shews the appearance of this Church 
with its imposing steeple, and its position among the 
tombs. The ecclesiastical edifice has stood there since 
the date of the last Eebellion, it having been completed for 
opening before the close of the following year 1746. A 
portion of the ground round about has been used as a burial 
place for more than eight hundred years ; and the probability 
is, that the present Church has had at least three predecessors, 
the first of them rising up rude and small with roof of thatch 
during the Scoto-Irish period, to be succeeded by more 
imposing structures in accordance with the taste of the 
times and the requirements of the parish. On entering 
the Church by the main or western door through the 
porch, which is florid with memorial busts and tablets, 
a spacious and graceful interior greets the eye. In 
1869 the entire area was refurnished according to a plan 
by which the old square pews that had accommodated 
several generations of worshippers were superseded by seats 
of modem shape. A great improvement was thus effected ; 
but unfortunately during the process a precious memorial 
was cleared away like the ordinary timber among which it 
stood : this was Bums's Pew in the south-west, which 
was occupied by the poet and his family, and bore on its 
table the initials B. B. The vandalism of this act is much to 
be regretted, especially as by the exercise of a little ingenuity 
the pew could have been harmonised to a great extent with 
the other wood-work, and any appearance of anomaly that 
remained would have been far more than compensated for by 
the preservation of such an interesting memento of Burns 
and Jean Armour. Favoured with admission into the 
Session-house, we find upon its walls a memorial list of the 
various ministers who have been settled in St. MichaeFs 
parish since the date of the Eeformation, which list we 
amplify and otherwise slightly alter, premising that seven of 



352 MKMORIALS OT ST. MICHAXL's. 

the names upon it appear on the monumental stones of the 
Church or Cemetery outside. 

1567. Ninian Dalyell, with a stipend of £40; remoYod to Gar- 
laverock. 
1574. Peter Watson, translated from Markmch ; and to Fliak. 

1585. Alexander Forsyth, translated to Craigie 1586. 

1586. Hew Fullarton, M.A., translated to Kilmarnock 1601. 

1601. David Barclay, translated from Maybole; and to Kilwin- 
ning 1605. 
1605. Thomas Bamsay, M.A., died in 1638. 
1638. James Hamilton, removed to Edinburgh 1647. 

1648. Hew Hem^son or Henderson, M.A., translated from Dairy 
in the Glenkens ; " outed" dming the Persecution. 

1658. George Campbell, M.A., also suffered much for his adherence 
to Presbyteriamsm : he was deprived of his incumbency in 1662, 
was afterwards imprisoned in Edinburgh, and when the troubles 
ceased returned to Dumfries. 

1662. James Chalmers, A.M., curate during the temporary ascend- 
ancy of Episcopaliamsm ; translated to I'aisley 1667. 

1668. Alexander Caimoroce, A.M., another Prelatical curate, after- 
wards made Bishop of Brechin 1684. 

1685. Richard Brown, A.M., third and last of the curates, fled from 
Dumfries at the Revolution, and died in Edinburgh 1707. 

1689. Geoige Campbell, M.A., reappointed ; made PK^fessor of 
Divinity in Edinburgh University 1690. 

1694. William Yeitch or Vetch, M.A., translated from Peebles, died 

in 1722. 
1696. Robert Patoun, M.A., first minister of the second charge; 

presented to the first charge in 1715. 
1715. Patrick Linn, M. A. ; died in 1731. 
1731. Robert Wight, M. A. ; died m 1764. 
1765. Thomas Mutter, D.D., translated from Auchtermuchty : died 

in 1793. 

1794. William Bumside, D.D., translated from the New Church ; 
died in 1805. 

1806. Alexander Scot, D.D., translated from the New Church, died 

in 1830. 
1830. Robert Wallace, D.D., translated from Kirkpatrick-Durham ; 

died in 1864. 

1865. John Duncan, translated from Abbottshall : and to Scoonie in 
1867. 

1867. James Fraser, D.D., translated from St. John's, Glasgow, 
and died after an incumbency of six months. 

1868. Alexander Bryson, M.A., translated from the Middle Parish, 
Paisley ; and to Alloa in 1870. 

1871. James Barclay, M. A ; translated to Canonbie in 1874. 

1874. John Paton, the present minister^ ordained in 1859 as chaplain 
to H.M. Highland Regiments in India ; and appointed otae of 
H.M. Presbyterian chaplains in the Bombay Presidency, 1863. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 353 

Little change has been experienced by the gallery of the 
Church. There we see, as of old, the Magistrates' pew 
facing the pulpit ; and the pew-divided "lofts" covering two- 
thirds of the space which the Seven Trades were allowed to 
erect for themselves on condition of papng £80 and keeping 
them in repair : these remain, but they have fallen into the 
possession of others, and the system with which they were 
identified has passed away, together with nearly all who once 
claimed a right to occupy the seats in virtue of being free- 
men. Between two windows on the south wall above the 
Squaremen's loft appears a singular masonic memento dated 
1722, in the form of two framed wooden panels, inscribed, and 
surmounted by a corresponding device which displays the 
compass, square, mallet, chisel, and other tools of the craft. 
The inscription, which is exceedingly quaint, runs as follows : 

" The ark the Church Glorious Temple built 

From final ruin sav'd Where God the vast Creation's 
When God on Sinners' head Framer dwelt 

The Deludge lav'd Jesus our Chief 

And tho by vertue The fabric since renewed 

Of this Art of ours When on the cursed Tree 

Proud Babel lifted up His blessed Head He be wed 

Her lofty towrs His blood the shattered 

Again it Solomon's Works of God together glew'd." 

Placed on the wall behind the Magistrates' seats a venerable 
clock bearing date 1758 measures time as it rolls along, its 
" Tic, tic, tic," sounding in fancy's ear like the language of 
the old timepiece which Longfellow celebrates " For ever — 
never ! Never — for ever !" 

" Through days of sorrow and of mirth, 
Through days of death and days of birth, 
Through every swift vicissitude 
Of changeful time, unchanged it has stood, 
And as if like God it all things saw 
It calmly repeats these words with awe, 

For ever — never ! 

Never — ^f or ever I 

Never here, for ever there, 
Where all parting, pain, and care, 
And death and time shall disappear — 
For ever there, but never here, 
The horologe of Etemity 
Sayeth thus, as time rolls by. 

For ever— never ! 

Never— for ever !" 

W 



354 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

Some old familiar names, already noticed on the grave- 
stones of the Cemetery or of frequent occurrence in the other 
records of the Burgh, aiQ)ear on two black boards that snp- 
ix)rt the clock on either side. Down till 1845 the poor of 
Dumfries, like those of Scotland generally, were chiefly main- 
tained by the weekly church-door collections, and bequests 
and donations, largely supplemented by private charity. To 
Dr. Robert Johnston, brother-in-law of George Heriot, and 
physician to James VI., John Corrie, John Kaining, an 
opulent merchant of Norwich, and the Brothers Moorhead 
who founded the Hospital, the poor of the parish were chiefly 
indebted in the pre-assessment period ; some others, however, 
contributing considerable sums towards their maintenance. 
The black boards under notice are illuminated in a double 
sense by the names of those good men and women in past time» 
of whom it could be said " He (or she) that giveth to the poor 
lendeth to the Lord." As the list is of historical value locally, 
and an interesting memorial of St. Michael's, we give it entire, 
the sums specified being in merks except where otherwise 
expressed. 

1640. Robert Johnston, Doctor of Law— 10,800. 

1685. Thoa. M'Kitterick, merchant- 600. 

1692. John Richardson, advocate — 1500. 

1694. "MxB. Marion Maxwell, of Stewarton — ^100. 

1695. James Kennan, late Baihe — ^180. 

1696. William Craik. Esq., of Arbigland, late Provost— 500. 

1696. Thos. M*Kinnel, workman— 400. 

1697. Francis Dickson, writer — 150. 

1697. Homer Anderson, late Convener — ^310. 

1698. Gilbt. Nicholson, "Writer to the Signet— 90. 
1698. Robt. Blailockj merchant— 180. 

1698. Mrs. Grisel Gnerson, of Glencors — 90. 

1700. James Shortrige, merchant — 500. 

1700. John Rule, ohirurgeon — 500. 

1701. James M'Kitterick, merchant- 180. 

1705. Ilie Bev. Wm.yeitch, Minister of this Pariah, two Communion 

Cups — value 150. 
1707. Thos. Johnston, merchant — ^540. 
1707. Mrs. Elizabeth Johnston, relict of John Irving of New 

Orchard— 100. 
1710. Margt. Maxwell, daughter of the deceased Capt. E. Maxwell 

—600. 
1710. Georce Walls, merchant— 1000. 

1713. The Rev. Robert Edgar, Lite minister of Maxton— 2000. 
1713. John Irving, of Drumcoltran — 500. 
1713. John Martin, late Bailie— 200. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 355 

ITld. Kobt. M'Bumie, writer— 500. 

1717. Alexr. Beck, merchant — 100. 

1720. John Maxwell, late Deacon of tiie Squaremen— 200. 

172L The Rev. Wm. Veitch, Minister of this Parish— 100. 

1723. John Baining, merchant, Norwich — 9000. 

1723. John Loch, taylor— 200. 

1725. John Blnnt, weaver, ten roods of land in Over Barkerland. 

1727. Bobt. Boyd, writer -1000. 

1728. Thomas Hunter, chinirgeon— £400. 

1728. Thos. Edgar, Esq., of Reidbank. late ProvOst— £60. 

1733. Mrs. Marion Archibald, reHct of Dr. Archibald— £60. 

1737. Robert Maxwell, of Shelloch— 200. 

1737. Andw. Robison, merchant — ^180. 

1739. Wm. k Jas. Moorheads, merchants, for a Poor's House — ^9900, 

1742. WiUiam Copland, Esq., of Colliston— 300. 

1742. John Lowthian, of Staffold— 360. 

1750. John Forsjrth, merchant — 200. 

1800. Dr. MiUigan Johnston— £10. 

1804. Jas. Wait, Esq., of Moat— £50. 

1806. Miss Mary Goldie— £10. 

1806. The Rev. Wm. Bumside, D.D.— £10. 

1814. The Rev. Alexr. Scot, D.D., a donation of one hundred 
guineas, one half to the Hospital, and the other half to the poor 
of the parish, at the discretion of the Kirk-Session— £105. . 

1814. Robert Gillespie, Esq., of Peelston— £20. 

The vestibule through which we passed on entering the 
Church had been closed for many years, and was reopened on 
28th January 1827, at the instance of Mr. William Grierson. 
On returning we pause a few minutes to survey its vari- 
ous memorials, the oldest of which is a tablet elegantly 
adorned with urn and flowing drapery, bearing the name of 
a distinguished " merchant prince," illustrious in the muni- 
cipal anHals of " The Great Metropolis," and for many years 
the presiding genius of the East India Company. The 
epitaph is subjoined : 

''In memory of Sir Thomas Reid, Bart., F.R.S., of Graystone 
Park, Dumfriesshire, and Bwell Grove, in the county of Surrey, 
South Britain, the eldest son of James Reid, and Helen, his wife, who 
lie interred in the adjoining churchyard. He was niany years an 
eminent merchant in London, and departed this life the 29th day of 
February, 1824, aged 61 years. Whilst his domestic virtues endeared 
Tiim to lus f amUy and mends, the rare union of active zeal, sound 
judgment, and universal benevolence fitted him peculiarly for public 
duties. As a husband, father, brother, friend, he was affectionate 
and exemplary ; pious and humane, easy of access, and to the poor 
and helpless a patron and protector. For his integrity and abihties 
he was called upon to fill many important stations ; and unsolicited, 
he was twice elected chairman of the Honourable East India Company. 
His afOicted widow erected this monument to the memory of a beloved 
husband." 



366 MKMORIAIiB or 8T. MICHASL'S. 



Both, the Bev. Dr. Soot and the Rev. Dr. Wallace, of 
8t^ Michael's, are here commemorated in addition to the 
monumental stones which rise above their remains in the 
Borial-gronnd. The Scot memento is a fine bust from the 
chisel of Mr David Dunbar, and is a most f aithfol likeness of 
the worthy clerfQrman.' An inscription below gives the 
name, date of death, &c., with the words : 

"Tbis memorial is erected by public rabscription in testimony of 
the hijg^ estimation in which he was held as a teacher of the divine 
tmths of Christianity. The righteous shall he in everlasting 
remembrance." 

Adjoining this bust we see the figure of a sleeping child 
charmingly cut in marble by the same artist. It is in 
memory of Elizabeth Stokes Dunbar, the plinth bearing the 
following beautiful tribute to the departed infant : 

** Like dewdrop kissed off by the sun's morning beam, 
A brief, bat a beauteous existence was given ; 
Her soul seemed to come down to earth in a dream. 
And only to wake when ascended to heaven." 

The Wallace memorial is a fine artistic tablet, ^' Erected by 

the Family." 

A good man and able judge, whose grave we have yet to 

Tisit, is borne in remembrance by a tasteful tablet with the 

subjoined inscription : 

** In memory of John Pitcaim Trotter, Esq., advocate, for 28 
years Sheriff -Sabstitute of Dumfriesshire, who died 5th July, 1867, 
aged 63 years. Erected by^ the Faculty of Procurators to commemorate 
his eminent ability, his vigorous and conscientious discharge of the 
duties of his office, and his cordial interest in their welfare." 

As noticed in chapter twenty-third, many members of the 
Corrie family are buried in the Cemetery ; and one of the 
tablets in the porch is erected to another member, the bene- 
volent gentleman to whom the poor of the Burgh are indebted 
for " The Corrie Fund," from which about £70 is realised 
every year; and which is distributed aunually by the Hospital 
Directors, as Trustees, in sums varying from 10s to 20s. The 
monument is thus incribed : 

** In memory of Mr. John Corrie, son of Mr. Joseph Corrie, writer 
in Dumfries. Born May 30th, 1736, died January 3d, 1791. Nearly 
the whole of his property was bequeathed to the poor of Dumfries. 
He was a person of tne strictest integrity, and the poor who pr ofited 
by his bounty bless his memory." 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIGHAEL's. 357 

As a medical practitioner^ no one was more popular in 
Dumfries than he, whose amiable character, general profes- 
sional attainments, and great services daring a season of 
special calamity, are faithfully depicted on another graceful 
tablet, which reminds us also that he perished at the post of 
duty when the Burgh was attacked by cholera in 1848. The 
memorial record runs as follows : 

" Sacred to the memory of James M'Lauchlan, surgeon, Dumfrietr. 
His youth was spent in the successful pursuit of professional know- 
ledge ; his mai^ood was devoted to the unwearied, faithful, and 
benevolent exercise of his high art. His life was signalised hy the 
virtues of the Christian. His death followed his ministrations amid 
a plague-stricken people, and bore the evidence of that faith in 
which he lived. Bom 14th March 1798 ; died 10th December 1848." 

The most recent monumental acquisition of the porch is a 
graceful marble tablet, displaying a sword-supported scroll, 
which in a few words, as follows, unfolds a mournful tale of 
youthful patriotism and sacrifice, and of paternal sorrow for 
an irreparable loss : 

''In memory of William Anderson Johnston, Lieutenant Boyal 
Welsh Fusileers, eldest son of W. G. F. Johnston, Esq. of Garrooh, 
Major, Scottish Borderers Militia, who died in the service of his 
country at sea, when returning from the Ashantee War, 28th Feb- 
ruary 1874, aged 26." 

THE WALLS OF THB CHURCH. 

On all the four outside walls of the Church memorial 
tablets have been affixed, which we proceed to notice, be- 
ginning with those which commemorate ministers of the 
parish, four in number. The third monument on the north 
side bore the honoured name of William Yeitch, together 
with some notice of his sufferings and services ; but the re* 
cord, written upon soft Castledykes stone, has long since 
been rendered illegible by the wind and rain. When first 
set up, it must have occupied a different position on the out- 
side of the old walls, which were removed in 1744, to make 
way for those of the existing fabric. The original site of 
the tablet is indicated by two Kirk-Session minutes, the 
first of which is in these terms :— r" January 26th, 1721. The 
Beverend Mr. William Vetch, minister, desiring a burial 
place may be alowed him and his wife at the side of the wall 



358 XSHORIALB OF ST. MIGHABL's. 

betwixt the soath-west imd north-west doors within the 
ehnrch ; that room to be inspected by the members as they 
go forth £rom this sederunt." The ''room'' was visited 
aooordingly, and the following act was drawn np on the 2d 
of next month : '' This day the Session, taking nnder their 
consideration, the desire of the Bev. 'William Yetch, minister 
of the GospeU in Dumfries, which was proposed last session 
day anent a bnrial-room, and the room having been visited, 
the Session thought fit to allow, and hereby does allow, the 
said Mr. William Vetch and his spouse* a burial-room within 
the Church immediately at the wall side betwixt the two 
doors towards the south-west and north-east, under the 
charity broad end, opposite to the stairs that goes up to the 
Merchants' loft." 

Though the laconic story once told by the stone memorial 
of the deceased minister has been lost, he will not on that 
account fall out of remembrance, a? the part he took in the 
troublous times of the Persecution and his subsequent career 
have been amply chronicled by the historians of the period 
Mr. Veitch was born at Roberton, Clydesdale, on 27th 
April 1640, and was the youngest son of the minister of that 
parish. To some extent his fortunes were mixed up with 
those of the martyrs Welsh and Grierson, of whom we had 
much to say in chapter twenty-fifth. Like them, he took 
part in the battle of Pentlands, having been induced by 
John Welsh, minister of Irongray, and others, to cast in his 
lot with the daring little band who began "Freedom's battle" 
against "Prelacie and Tyrannie," though for the time being 
their cause seemed desperate, and its advocacy brought death 
to many of them, and sore trials to them all. After the Cove- 
nanting ranks were broken on Bullion Green, Mr. Veitch, to 
use his own words, " fell in with a whole troop of the enemy, 

* "October 24th 1728. A Kirk-Session minute of this date shews 
that Mr Veitch had mortified ** one hundred marks Scots for the use 
of the poor'' to be paid within a year and a day after the decease 
of himself and spouse ; the annual ]:ent or interest to be laid out 
for behoof of the poor at the' discretion of the ministers, elders, 
and deacons, nominated as administrators of the fund by the sua 
Mr. Veitch.''— Ficfe List on Page 366. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICBAEL's. 359 

who turned his horse violently in the dark, and carried him 
along with thena, not knowing but that he was one of their 
own.'' Fearing that his demeanour might betray him, he 
kept outside of the troop as well as possible, and the moon 
beginning to shine forth as they descended in pursuit of the 
fugitive insurgents, he thought his only chance of eluding 
discovery was to spur his hoifee up the hill, and get out of 
fiight. No sooner had this movement been made by him than 
cries of " There goes' one of the rogues who commanded the 
rebels" greeted his ears, followed by more dangerous salutes 
in the form of leaden balls that came whizzing about him, 
dangerously near. His good steed, however, carried him 
away safely to a friend's house on Dunsyre Common, less 
than a mile distant from his own dwelling at Westhills. 

For more than twenty years afterwards Mr. Veitch was a 
marked man, and had he not, by crossing the Borders, baffled 
the search that was made for him, it is almost cei'tain that, 
like Welsh, Grierson, and scores of other Pentland heroes, he 
would have perished on the scaffold. He resided for a long 
period in the north of England, ministering on sufferance to 
various attached congregations; but twelve years after his 
southward flight he was apprehended near Morpeth on the 
double charge of being an unlawful teacher of English Non- 
conformists, and a fugitive, traitorous outlaw from Scotland. 
When brought before the Scottish Privy Council accused of 
having been engaged in the Pentland rising, he boldly laid the 
burden of proof to that effect on his accusers, and as evidence 
they had none, he was sent back to jail, the wonder being 
that they did not by the thumbikins or the boot, as was their 
wont in such obstinate cases, try to make the prisoner criminate 
himself. While still in durance, a sentence of death that 
had been passed upon him in 1666, or the year afterwards, 
was brought up anew ; and he who had had many hair-breadth 
escapes seemed to be fatally snared at last. Not so, however ; 
an opportune change having taken place in the King's coun- 
sellors, and great influence having been used to save Mr. 
Veitch, the sentence was commuted to one of banishment 
from Scotland " during the days of his natural life/ so that 



360 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

he was left free to go back to his friends in NorthamberlancL 
The persecuted minister outlived most of those who either 
sat in judgment upon him^ or directed the despotism of which 
they were the tools. The radiance of the Eevolution that 
came too late for many of his martyred compeers shone full 
upon him, and rejoicing in its light he returned to his native 
land, no longer a wandering outlaw hated and despised by 
turns, but receiving a gracious welcome home as a heroic 
Christian minister and patriot. Accepting one of several 
calls given to him he settled down at Peebles for four years, 
after which he was invited both by an Edinburgh congrega- 
tion and by that of Dumfries to become their pastor. He 
preached in St. Michael's Church, and being pleased with the 
people and their mode of receiving him, he gladly responded 
to their call, when the General Assembly ruled that he should 
accept it, rather than the competing one from Edinburgh. 
Accordingly, Mr. Veitch was duly inducted minister at Dum- 
fries in September 1694. Between the stones of the Martyrs 
and the pulpit of St. Michael's the space is small, admitting 
of an easy measurement ; but who can measure the magni- 
tude of the moral change in virtne of which their fellow- 
witness — once deemed, like them, worthy of death — was now 
honoured as a faithful son of the Church, and as a loyal 
subject of the King ! 

Mr. Veitch was four times moderator of the Provincial 
Synod ; and further evidence of the respect borne towards 
him by his ministerial brethren appears^, in the following 
extract from the Presbytery Records : " On the 10th of Sep- 
tember 1696 — The Presbytery, considering that it is an ancient 
and laudable custom of this Church to send some of their 
number to the place where Parliament sits, to confer with such 
other ministers as may be commissioned by other Presby- 
teries, on things which may be needful for the glory of God 
and the Church's welfare, do hereby commissionate and 
appoint Mr. William Veitch to attend at Edinburgh for that 
effect during the session of Parliament." 

He had by his wife, Marion Fairley, ten children, four of 
whom died young, and as his daughters married into wealthy 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MTCHAEL's. 361 

families^ and his sons were early provided for, he found him- 
self in easy circumstances during his latter years, and had 
the means of showing his liberality to many, including 
some from whom he had experienced nothing but injury. 
On one occasion Sir Theophilus Oglethorp, by whom he had 
been apprehended in Northumberland, paid the minister a 
visit, and explained that after the Eevolution he had lost all 
the money paid to him for his services by the previous 
Grovemment, and was now in reduced circumstances, where- 
upon "Mr. Veitch forgave him any injury which he had done 
him, and made the humbled knight a handsome present.'** 
Another anecdote, which is better known, will bear repetition. 
Mr. Veitch had been of some service to Mr. (afterwards Sir 
Gilbert Elliot) when that young lawyer stood in need of 
friends, for which favour the latter had afterwards an oppor- 
tunity of showing his gratitude ; and when they met under 
altered circumstances in Dumfries, their conversation often 
turned upon the perilous days of the Persecution. At one 
time when thus engaged Sir Gilbert good humouredly 
remarked, " Ah ! Willie, Willie ! had it not been for me the 
pyets would have been pyking your pate on the Netherbow 
Port," and Mr. Veitch's happy response was, " Ah ! Gibbie, 
Gibbie ! had it not been for me, ye would yet hae been 
writing papers for a plack the page V 

On the 19th of May 1715, Mr Veitch being then aged 
about 75, demitted his charge, and in May 1722, this " good 
and faithful servant" entered into his reward on high. His 
devoted spouse, who had been united to him for fifty- 
eight years, predeceased him by a single day, and they 
were interred together. Two of their sons attained eminence 
in the army— one of them. Captain William Veitch, acting 
creditably as the military chief of the ill-starred Darien 
Expedition; Ebenezer, their youngest son, followed his 
father's profession, and was long minister of Ayr ; Elizabeth, 
their second daughtei', became the wife of David M'Culloch 
of Ardwall ; Sarah, their third daughter, was married to 

* M*Crie's Memoirs of Veitch, p. 215. 



362 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

James Young of Gullyhill ; and Agnes, their fourth daugh- 
ter, was married to the Eev. John Somerville of Carlaverock 

Mr. Veitch was succeeded as minister of the parish by 
Robert Faton, formerly of Carlaverock, who had acted as his 
colleague since February 1696 ; and Mr. Paton having been 
appointed minister of the New Church congregation, when 
that was formed in 1727, the incumbency of St. Michael's 
devolved upon another of Mr. Yeitch's assistants, Mr. Patrick 
Linn A.M., his sphere of labour being thus defined by the 
Presbytery ; " The whole country parish with that part of 
the town which lyes next to the said church extending to the 
end of Lochmaben-gate on the east-side, and to Hoddam's 
lodging on the other side, containing about six hundred and 
ninety five examinable persons from ten years old and up- 
wards in that part of the town, beside the landward parish.'' 
At the time the Burgh was threatended by the rebels under 
Lord Kenmure, Mr. Linn took an active part in the prepara- 
tions for its defence. To him and to Mr. John Somerville, mini- 
ster of Carlaverock, the special duty was assigned of maintain- 
ing a guard at Bankend to foil any attempt that might be 
made to attack the town in that direction by the Jacolnte 
followers of Lord Nithsdale. He died at an early age. An 
imposing monument to his memory was erected by his widow, 
who, in the words it bears, seems to have spoken out of the 
fulness of her heart. It is a mural structure, near the south 
door of the Church, pillastered, and ornate with emblematic 
devices according to the fashion which then prevailed. A 
seraph's head, with wings overspreading a Bible open at 
Psalm xxxvi. 6, "Thy judgments are a great deep," oc- 
cupies the pediment ; a sand-glass, cross bones, sexton's 
implements, and crania, figure conspicuously as side orna- 
ments ; the tablet, somewhat time-worn, being thus inscribed : 

"Here lies the body of the Revd. Mr. Patrick Linn, ordain'd 
minister of Drumfries May 12th 1715. Who was adom'd with bright 
natural parts, solid learning, and unaffected piety. He with un- 
wearied diligence and unusual success studied the knowledge of the 
several parts of Divine Revelation, especially the perfections of Gk)d, 
the depravity of humane natuire, man's recovery and salvation by 
Christ, and sdl the parts of practical religion ; all which he deUvered 
in pubUc with imcommon eloquence, undaunted courage, and 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 36d 

impartial freedom, to the edification of many. He was f aithf all in 
every- relation, of a truely Cliristian spirit, hating dissimulation and 
craft in every shape, candid, just, benevolent, bountiful, &C( He 
died Aug. 1st, 1731, in the 44th year of his age. Erected by Alison 
Charters, his widow, from a just regard to his memory. 1733." 

Turning again to the north side of the church, we there 
find, near the decayed Veitch memorial, a neat tablet in 
honour of Mr. Linn's immediate successor, Mr. Robert 
Wight, A.M., and who, before being called to St. Michael's, 
ofl&ciated as minister of Torthorwald, and at Brampton. It 
is thus inscribed : 



(( 



To the memory of the Rev. Mr, Robert Wight, minister, whose 
uniform life of piety &; virtue, calm temper, and gentle manners at 
once prov'd & enforc'd the doctrines of religion, which he taught 
with much ability & zeal. Tenderly belov'd by his family & friends ; 
and respected by all, he died sincerely regretted, Deer. 4th 1764, in 
the 80th year of his age, the 53d of his ministry, and the 33d of his 
charge in this parish." 

Below this inscription appears the following one : 

" Sacred to the memory of Alison Wight, daughter of the above 
Bev. Robert Wight, who departed this life on the 26th day of 
February 1834, in the 9lBt year of her age. With mind benevolent, 
active and pious, she lived the life of the righteous, and her latter 
end was peace. This stone is erected as a tribute of grateful affection 
by M. E. Ross." 

An adjoining tablet bears an inscription which commemo- 
rates Mr. "Wight's successor as follows : 

•*In affectionate remembrance of Revd. Dr. Thomas Mutter, 
Minister of this Church, who died 25th Dec. 1793, in the 83d year of 
his age, and 57th of his ministry. No less distinguished for the 

Eiety of his life and the purity of his manners, than conspicuous for 
is great learning, correct taste, and concise expression. His wife, 
Isobel Gostine, survived him upwards of 28 years, exhibiting that 
blessed equanimity and pious resignation to the will of God which 
distinguished her through life. She died on the 22d day of January 
1822, aged 87 years." 

Dr. Mutter officiated in Auchtermuchty before coming to 
Dumfries. He received his degree of D.D. from the Univer- 
sity of Glasgow. As previously mentioned, he is represented 
by John Mayne as saying grace at the magistrates' dinner 
held in connection with the Silver Gun competition of 1777. 
Mayne states in a note that Dr. Mutter '• was a gentleman of 
distinguished talents, of great eloquence as a preacher, and 
very eminent as a theologian." 

Another Dumfries clergyman of the last century receives 



364 MEMORIALS OF ST. UICHASL's. 

commemoration as follows from a handsome mural erection 
placed near the chief entrance door on the right : 

** In memory of the Bevd. Mr. John Scott. He was bom A.D. 
1697 ; advanced to the ministry of the Gospel at Holywood, Fehruarv 
4th 1725 ; translated to the New Church of Dumfries, November 30th 
1732 ; and died April 17th, 1770. Universally esteemed and regretted, 
the virtues of his character in private and public life will be long 
remembered, and most justly, with veneration, by his family, con- 
gregation, and acquaintance. He was an affectionate husband and 
parent, a warm and steady friend, a learned and able divine, a 
pathetic and instructive preacher, a faithful reprover of vice, and a 
bright pattern of the duties he taught. He was a sensible and cheer- 
ful companion, possessed of extensive knowledge ; remarkable for his 
accuracy in the discipline and government of this church, and most 
zealous for the public weal — ^ii. Tim., chap. 4, v. 7 and 8. Also of 
Christian Wardrop of Fouldshields, Linlithgowshire, his wife, who 
died 18th December, 1782." 

We learn from an intimation on the plinth that this fine old 
monument was restored in 1870 by the Eev. Dr. James 
Maitland of Kells, great grandson of the deceased^ the work' 
man employed having been Mr. Thomas Watson. 




THB WALLS OF THE CHURCH — CONTINUED. 

EAE the "Wight monument appears a fine mural tablet 
with rich ornamental pediment raised to the memory 
of Samuel Clark, sen., Commissary Clerk of Dum- 
fries for upwards of fifty years, who died 1st June 1815, at the 
great age of 89 ; also of Mary Wight, his wife, died 27th March 
1779, aged 38. Mr. Mayne, in a note to The SiUer Oun, states 
that when the farm of Craigs was in the possession of Mi*. 
Samuel Clark, " he generously granted the use of the ground 
for the competition when required by the craftsmen ; and 
they in return enrolled his name as a freeman in all their 
corporations, proud of an opportunity of manifesting their 
respect for a gentleman whose urbanity and goodness of heart 
have on all occasions endeared him to the community." v Mrs. 
Clark was the daughter of the Rev. Robert Wight, and it 
was her son who was so honourably associated with Bums, 
as described in a preceding chapter. 

A massive table-stone in front commemorates Mrs. Alison 
Moffat, grand-daughter of the Rev. Robert Wight, died 10th 
February 1848, aged 77 ; Jean Clark, died 26th April 1854, 
aged 85 ; Helen Clark, widow of the late Richard Howat of 
Mabie, died 3d March 1855, aged 79, "both daughters of 
Samuel Clark, Commissary and Justice of Peace Clerk of 
Dumfries, and grand-daughters of the above-named Rev. 
Robert Wight." 

Since our notice of Mr. Samuel Clark, junior, was written, 
his venerable widow has passed away. Mrs. Clark, whose 
maiden name was Nicholson, was bom at Whitehaven in or 
about 1782. After her marriage with Mt. Clark, she took up 
her abode in the County town, and for half a century or 
more resided in Castle Street, where she died 19th May 1876. 
Mrs. Clark was a lady of more than ordinary intellect. Shrewd, 
well-informed, and sagacious, she was also exceedingly warm- 
hearted, and felt a special pleasure in relieving distress, 



366 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAKL'S. 

being ever ready also with both hand and purse to pitnnote all 
movements that had the moral or social advancement of the 
community in view. The Boys' Home, which has acoom- 
plished so much good under the fostering care of Mr. Gregan, 
was, we believe, originated at her suggestion. She was all 
along, we know, one of its best supporters, and indeed to aJI 
the charities of the Burgh she proved a liberal patroness. 
By her husband the deceased lady had three daughters, all of 
them noted for their beauty and accomplishments. One of 
the three, now dead, was married to the late Mr. Greorge 
Maxwell of Glenlee, another survives as the widow of the 
late Rev. Dr. George John C. Duncan, and the third is the 
wife of Mr. Gladstone, of Capenoch. 

The first wall monument on the north side of the Church 
commemorates George Mackenzie of Netherwood. It con- 
sists of a marble tablet resting upon a capacious urn cut in 
high relief, and of a pediment bearing a stag's head with the 
motto *'Laudet Diversa Sequentes." The workmanship, from 
the chisel of Mr. Alexander Crombie, father of Bailie 
Crombie, is very fine ; the leaf ornaments which festoon the 
tablet being particularly graceful. A part of the inscription 
has become illegible, but that which remains bears testimony 
to the worth of the deceased, and the services rendered by 
him to the agriculture of the district ; and we are told he 
was not more noted ''as an improver of the soil by his 
judicious instruction and example" than he was distinguished 
and esteemed in private life "for his domestic, friendly, and 
social virtues." He died 24th May, 1781, at the early age of 
37, " leaving an amiable and disconsolate widow and two 
children." It is stated further that the monument was erected 
by George Mackenzie, "his grateful and affectionate brother," 
1782. The widow above mentioned, Marion Stewart, who 
died 1st January, 1792, aged 40, is also named upon the 
monument. She belonged to an old and respected family 
who have been settled in Shambellie, Kirkcudbrightshire, for 
several centuries. More recently the name of Kenneth Mac- 
kenzie has been added to the name of his parents in the 
inscription. He died at Jamaica, 10th January 1816, aged 42. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 367 

A respected merchant of the Bui^h, John M'George. and 
"who was for some time also one of its bailies, receives com- 
memoration from the tablet next to that of Mr. Veitch. Mr. 
M'George, who was very serviceable and efficient as a J.P. 
during his latter years, died 23d November 1851, aged 66. 
His infant son, Charles, is also named in the inscription. 

As we have .already seen, not a few representatives 
of the Dumfries branch of the Annandale Irvings lie in 
this Churchyard; and we now reach two tablets comme- 
morating several members of the original stock. One 
tablet bears the names of Robert Irving, Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the 70th Regiment, " a brave and deserving officer, and 
very humane man, who lost his life in the West Indies in 
the service of his country," 5th October 1794, aged 50 years; 
and of his son William, who died young. John Irving, 
designated of Bonshaw — the cradle of the house, was the 
father of the gallant officer. The other stone is 

" Sacred to the memory of Mrs Judith Irving, daughter of Wm. 
Westfield, Esq , of Kent, wife of Paulus -^Imilius Irving, Esq. of Wood- 
house, Govt, of Upnor Castle, youngest son of Wm. Irving, Esq., of 
Bons]>aw, by his wife the Honrble. .£milia BoUa^ eldest daughter of 
the Bt. Honrble. Andw. Lord Bollo and his wiie the Hon. Margt. 
Balfour, daughter of Lord Burleigh. She died the xiii. of ]S£iy 
HDCCXcni., in the Ixxii. year of her age." 

John Irving, of Bonshaw, married in 1670 Sarah, daughter 
of Sir William Douglas, of Kelhead, Bart. They left four 
sons, John, who succeeded to Bonshaw, being the eldest, and 
Lieut. -Colonel Paidus ^milius of Woodhouse and RobgilL 
He (as stated on the tablet) married Judith, daughter of 
Captain WilHam Westfield, died 22nd April 1796. His 
eldest son was created a baronet 19th September 1809. John 
Irving, of Bonshaw (the elder brother) left two sons, William, 
of Bonshaw, and Robert. William married 13th November 
1767, Janet, daughter of Sir John Douglas, Bart., grandson 
of the Marquis of Queensberry, and whose grandson in turn 
inherited that title. He built the modem dwelling-house of 
Bonshaw in 1777 out of the ruins of the former edifice. Hia 
brother, Lieut.-Colonel Robert Irving is the person men- 
tioned on the first tablet. 



368 XEVOBIALS OF ST. MICHAXL's. 

On the Boatli wall there is a spacious erection, divided into 
four parts, devoted to members or relatives of the M^urdo 
family, many others of whom, as lying in this Cemetery, 
have been already noticed. On the upper part, which is of 
marHe, the Christian name " Philadelphia" appears, as borne 
by the daughter of James Douglas of Domock, a cadet of 
ihe great house of J>ouglas ; and by marrying Bobert 
IfMurdo of Drungans, her peculiar name became ''a house- 
hold word** in the family of her husband. Its application 
to the daughter of Bums's friend, celebrated by the poet 
as "Phely" and "Phillis the Fair," will be remembered 
by many of our readers. The inscription on the monument 
to Philadelphia Douglas is as follows : 

"To the memory of Philadelphia Douglas, daughter of James 
Douglas of Domock, and wife of Bobert M'M uido of Dnmgans, who, 
having lived in this frail world xxzL years, adorned with innocence 
and tiie most amiable virtnes, was called to immortality by the great 
Bewarder of the good upon the vi of Febroary, mdccliv. This monn- 
nent was erected by her disconsolate husband. Here lys also Bobert 
H'Murdo, her husband, who died June 25, 1776, aged 50 years." 

" Nor herb, fruit, flower, 
Glist'ring with dew, nor fragrance after showers, 
Nor grateful evening mild, nor walk by moon 
Or glittering starU^t, without thee is sweet." 

The above lines are quoted from Paradiae Last, Book iv., 
and form part of an address from Eve to Adam. 

The lower divisions are of granite, one of which is thus 
inscribed : 

*' Sacred to the memory of Jane Blair, widow of the late John 
M'Murdo. Esq., who departed this life on the 19th of April 1836, in 
her 88th year. ' The memory of the just is blessed.* * Kept by the 
power of God through faith unto salvation,* she leant upon Jesus as 
the Lord her righteousness and her strengtii, and through grace was 

Erivileged to exemplify that wisdom whi<m cometh from above, which 
\ first pure, tiien peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of 
mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 
Honoured, respected, and beloved, her memorial is written on the 
hearts of ner children. They rise up and call her blessed ; her hus- 
band, also, for he trusted in her." 

Jane Blair was daughter of Provost Blair, who ruled over 
Dumfries, 1782-3 and 1790-1-2 ; her husband was the Cham- 
berlain at Drumlanrig, above spoken of as Burns*s friend, 
and it was their eldest daughter, Jean, of whom he sang in 
the exquisite strain, beginning 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 369 

"There was a lass and she was fair, 
At kirk and market to be seen ; 
'When>Ji' the fairest maids were there 
The fairest maid was bonnie Jean ; 

and auother daughter was the Philadelphia already men-^ 
tioned^ who is the heroine of at least four of the poet's 
songs. Mrs. M^Murdo was a lady of good natural parts, 
which enabled h.er to eujoy the society of the gifted bard 
when at any time during his best moods he paid a visit to the 
Castle. How much Bums appreciated his kind hostess may 
be inferred from a letter he addressed to her, dated Ellisland, 
2nd May, 1789, in which he says : "I have finished the piece 
which had the happy fortune to be honoured with your appro- 
bation ; and never did little Miss with more sparkling pleasure, 
shew her appLauded samplar than I now send my poem to you 
and Mr. M'Murdo. You cannot easily imagine what thin- 
skinned animals — what sensitive plants poor poets are. How 
do we shrink into the embittered comer of self-abasemeut 
when neglected or condemned by those to whom we look up I 
and how do we, in erect importance add another cubit to our 
stature on being noticed and applauded by those whom we 
honour and respect. My late visit to Drumlamig has 
I can tell you Madam, given me a balloon waft up Par- 
nassus, where on my fancied elevation, I regard my poetic 
self with no small degree of complacency. Surely with all 
their sins the rhyming tribe are not ungrateful creatures. I 
recollect your goodness to your humble guest — I see Mr. 
M'Murdo adding to the politeness of the gentleman, the kind- 
ness of a friend, and my heart swells as it would burst with 
warm emotion and ardent wishes ! It may be it is not grati- 
tude — it may be a mixed sensation. That strange, shifting, 
doubting animal man is so generally at best but a negative,, 
often a worthless creature, that we cannot see real goodness 
and native worth, without feeling the bosom glow with sym- 
pathetic approbation." 

An inscription on another division of the monument states 

that 

** Near this spot is deposited the mortal remains of Frances, wife' 
of Douglas Yeitch M'Murdo, who departed this life on the 25th day 
of November 1813." 

X 



370 MEMOEIALS OF ST. UIGHABL's. 

On two venerable monuments near by we find the names 
of the wife and daughter-in-law of another " outed " minister, 
Bobert Archibald, A.M., who received his degree from 
Glasgow University in 1643, was admitted to the charge of 
Dunscore in 1651, and was deprived by the Acts of llth 
June, 1662, and of the Privy Council Ist October, 1662. He 
died in Edinburgh 6th May 1688, aged about 63, when in the 
39th year of his ministry, leaving a widow, four daughters, 
and one son, a medical practitioner. A Kirk-Session minute 
of 27th July 1732, and another dated on the 24th of the 
following month, supply some interesting information respec- 
ting these memorials. The first-named entry is as follows : 
" This day, Mrs. Archibald, relict of Doctor George Archi- 
bald, gave in a petition to the Session craving they would 
appoint some of their number to inspect some tombstones 
belonging to her, and grant ane act of Session in her 
favour, in compliance wherewith the Session appoint [Robert 
Maxwell of] Shelloch, and Bailie Gilchrist, to inspect those 
she claims and report to the Session." The neit minute 
sets forth that the two gentlemen above named had gone 
with Dean Walls "to inspect some burial places belongiug 
to the deceast Mr. Adam Key, minister of the Grospel at 
Holywood and Doctor George Archibald," and " found upon 
the Church wall at the entry of Cunningham's isle an inscrip- 
tion bearing that Elizabeth Key, relict of the deceast Mr. 
Robert Archibald, minister at Dunscore, was buried there, 
as also two grave stones lying contiguous to it. They also 
found at six or seven feet distance a stone with this inscrip- 
tion * Mr. A. K,' as also on the east side of the Church at the 
entry to the Hammermen's loft an inscription on the wall 
bearing that Margaret Londy, spouse to Doctor George 
Archibald, was buried there, as also four grave stones 
adjacent thereto, whereof one was lying and the other three 
standing." The report was approved of, and an extract of the 
minute was allowed to the petitioner in evidence of her right 
to " the foresaid burial places and tombstones." 

The monument to Mrs. Archibald is of headstone form 
with figure of a large winged cherub in bold relief hovering 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 371 

on tlie pediment ; the words below intimating that Marion 
Archibald " relict of the de^ast Doctor Archibald, physician 
in Drumfries," lies near the spot, died 23rd September, 1735, 
age not* recorded. She left £60 sterling — a large sum at that 
period — ^to be laid out on good security for the better mainte- 
nance of two poor widows, not under 60 years of age, relicts 
of burgesses and indwellers of Dumfries ; and which charity 
is now administered by the directors of Moorheads' Hospital.* 

A very antique aspect is given to the neighbouring me- 
morial of Mrs. Archibald's mother-in-law, owing to the 
letters being cut in relief of a primitive pattern. The in- 
scription is in the following terms : 

"Here lyes Eliz. Key, relict of Mr, Eot. Archibald, late mimster 
iof the Grospel at Dinscor, 1709. 

Meek, modest, prudent, wise, and good, 
As all that knew her understood, 
Most patient in life and death, 
A pattern to her latest breath. 

Vivit post f unera virtus. 

Here also lyes Jean Archibald, her eldest daughter." 

It appears sufficiently plain from the Session minutes quoted 
above that these two stones must have been originally placed 
on the east side of the Church, in the direction of the monur 
ment to Bailie Key, who belonged to the same family as the 
Bev. Mr. Archibald's spouse, Elizabeth Key. Resting on 
the east side of the sacred edifice, near the north-east corner, 
we discover a large loose slab, which commemorates George 
Archibald, that lady's son. Neighbouring stones press upon 
the relic so closely as almost to veil it from cursory observa- 
tion ; but, neglected though it now is, it must when entire have 

* Other instances of this lady*s charitable disposition are recorded 
in the following Kirk-Session minutes :— " January 26th, 1721. Re- 
port being made by Mr. Patoun, minister, that Mrs. Archibald, relict 
of the deceast Doctor George Archibald, hath payed for the use of the 
poor twenty shilL starling, in consideration otthe seat in the Church 
presently possessed by her, notwithstanding she had been allowed to 
sit there during her life time gratis, the clerk is to give her ane ex- 
tract of this, as it is marked in our minuts." "July 19th, 1722. 
This day report was made that Mrs. Archibald, relict of Doctor 
Greorge Archibald, gave in compliment for the use of the poor in this 
toun one lib two ounces of fine silk fringes for* repairing the poors' 
velvet mortdoath [pall] for which the Session returns her thanks.'' 



*SJ2 MBMO&UXS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

presented an imposing appearance with its carved escut^ 
cheon and richly chased border.^ It might with great pro- 
priety be removed from its obscure position and placed near 
the kindred memorials, where room for it could easily be 
found below the middle window of the Church on the south 
side. This " Doctor of Medicine," as he is termed in the in- 
scription, was one of many distinguished medical men 
produced by the Buigh both in ancient and modern times^ 
He flourished early last century, his death occurring 6th 
May 1715 (the year of the first Jacobitie Rebellion), at an age 
which is not specified. Crossing the stone in oblong fashion 
ia the following brief epitaph : 

''Clarus in Arte fuit Medica, pins sequus amator Doctrinae et 
Morum lepiduB canoti8-qu« benignus." 

The inscription may be thus translated : 

**He was distingaiBhed in the medical profeasion, pious, upright, 
a lover of learning and morals, amiable ana kind to all" 

Long before the Union and afterwards the name of Ewart 
occupied a place in the list of our merchant burgesses. For 
many generations members of the family were found occu- 
pying an influential position at the Council Board, as well as 
taking a leading part in the trade of the town and port. One 
of them, John Ewart, was elevated to the provostship in 
1736, and twice afterwards the same high honour was con- 
ferred upon him. Closely related to the Dumfries Ewarts 
were the Ewarts of MuUoch, an estate which Bailie John 
Ewart of Kirkcudbright acquired so far back as 1611 ; and 
when, in 1841, William Ewart, his direct descendant, was 
chosen representative of the Five Burghs, which include the 
capitals of Dumfriesshire and the Stewartry, the family and 
the district became united by a new and more powerful tie. 

These considerations occur to us as we survey three monu" 
ments on the south side of the Church, each bearing the 
familiar and honoured ii8Lme. The first in order is a rare old 
piece of workmanship with coat of arms and pilasters very 
richly carved ; a heart pierced with three swords figures on 
the heraldic shield, the self-reliant, not to say defiant, motto 
round it being " Nemo potest vincere.*' Three cherub heads, 
winged, are sculptured below ; then follows the inscription, 



MEMORIALS OP ST. MICHABL's. ' 373 

" To the memory of Margaret Wells, spouse of James Ewart of 
Bulloch, who died upon the 26th day of October 1739^ aged 2^ years." 

The second stone, which is of simple construction, comme- 
morates Agnes Grierson, "relict of the Bev. Mr. Andrew 
Ewart, minister of .Kells, who died 8th December, 1758, 
aged 75." 

Between the Ewarts and Yorstouns, the latter of whom is 
now represented by Mr. Carthew Yorstoun of Tinwald (who 
\ unsuccessfully contested the Dumfries Burghs in 1874 with 
Mr. Ernest Noel) there is a close connection, brought about^ 
as we learn from Dr. Eamage, in the following way. The 
founder of the Dumfries branch of the Yorstoun family was 
the Eev. Peter Yorstoun, minister of Kells, who came from 
Shetland, and was educated at Glasgow University towards 
the middle of last century. In these primitive days it was a 
jcustom of divinity students during the summer holidays to 
make tours through the provinces, and to call at the manses 
on the way, where they were generally received with much 
kindness. , Mr. Yorstoun, when following this practice, visited 
the manse of Kells, where he met with a hearty welcome 
from the Bev. Andrew Ewart and his spouse, the Agnes 
Giierson of the memorial just noticed ; and their acquaint- 
ance improved so much that Mr. Yorstoun became eventually 
Mr. Ewart's assistant, son-in-law, and successor.* 

The third monument of the series consists of a large square 

tablet surmounted by a pinnacle jutting from the wall. It 

bears the following interesting record : 

•*Iii memory of James Ewart, Esquire, younger, of Mulloch, who 
.died on the 4th day of March 1799, aged 92 years ; also, Margaret 
Christie, his spouse, who died on the 15th day of February aged 62 
years : silso, Andrew Ewart, their eldest son, who died on the Ist day 
x>f May 1768, aged 24 years ; also, James Ewart, their second son, 
who died on the 26th day of November 1777, aged 32 years ; and of 
Peter Ewart, their youngest son, who, after having been many years 
A surgeon in India, returned to his native place in 1805, and died at 
Bosefield 28th April 1822, aged 64 years ; also . of Jane Lundie, 
widow of the above Peter Ewart, Esq., of Eosefield, who died at 
Camberwell, near London, 22 January 1849, aged 60 years." 

Provost Ewart suflfered no small amount of persecution for 
conscience sake in the reign of Charles II. His son Andrew 

* DrumUmrig and the Douglases, by Craufurd T. Bamage, LL.D., p.378. 



374 KKMORIALB OF ST. KICHAEL's. 

(fts we learn from Hew Scott) obtained the degree of A.M« 
from the Uniyersity of Edinbargh in 1679 ; he was ordained 
in 1691 ; and died 10th January 1739, in the 78th year of his 
age and 48th of his ministry. One of his daughters, as we 
have just seen, was married to the Bev.- Peter Yorstoun, who 
succeeded him at Kells, and who was translated to Closebum 
in 1763. 

We learn from an existing charter, issued under the great 
seal of Bobert IL, that George de Dunbar, Earl of March 
and Lord of Annandale, granted to Nigel Ewart the lands of 
Smallgyllis and Syftynhowys so far back as 26th June 1373. 
The name continues to occur in other charters till the Galloway 
branch is reached in the person of Andrew Ewart in Grange ; 
and through the medium of a family tree, compiled by Mr. J- 
C. Gracie, genealogist, all the Ewarts named on the me- 
morial stones in St. Michael's can be easily tniced back to 
the Andrew just named, who settled in the Stewartryy 
towards the close of the sixteenth century, and officiated 
as treasurer of Kirkcudbright in 1583. It was his son. Bailie 
John Ewart, who became laird of Mulloch ; and the latter 
was succeeded by his eldest son of the same name, who was 
for a lengthened period chief -magistrate of Kirkcudbright 
Provost Ewart again was succeeded as proprietor of Mulloch 
by his eldest son John, who also occupied the civic chair 
of Kirkcudbright John Ewart, his eldest son, fourth of 
the name, reached a higher honour than any of his predc" 
cessors, he having been chosen to represent the Stewartry in 
the first Parliament held by King William after the Bevolu- 
tion Settlement The Bev. Andrew Ewart, whose wife is 
commemorated by the second stone of the series, was the son 
of Mr. John Ewart, M.P. She was the daughter of John Grier- 
son of Capenoch, and aunt of Susannah, wife of Sir Thomas 
Kirkpatrick of Closebum (a lineal descendant of " Mac-Siccar*' 
Kirkpatrick." John, another son of the minister of Kells by 
his wife, Agnes Grierson, was minister of Troqueer from 1741 
till the date of his death in 1799 ; and his son William, a 
merchant in Liverpool, was father of the distinguished 
senator, who, after representing the Dumfries Burghs for 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. o75 

twenty-seven years^ died at his seat of Broadlees 29tli 
January 1869. The husband of Margaret Welk, who is 
named on the first monument, was the eldest son of the 
Eev. Andrew Ewart, and was for several years Sheriff-Sub- 
stitute of Dumfriesshire. He was the same James Ewart of 
Mullock who is commemorated on the thkd stone together 
with his second wife, Margaret Christie of Bakerton, Edin- 
burgh, and their children. Andrew, their eldest son, was 
killed in early manhood by a fall from his horse. Peter, their 
youngest son, built the mansion of Bosefield, Troqueer, of 
which parish his imcle John was minister, and in the burial- 
ground of that church the worthy clergyman reposes. The 
inscription on his tombstone may here be given in connection 
with the epitaphs of his kindred, as quoted above : 

"In memory of the Eev. John Ewart, for fifty-eight years the 
revered pastor of this parish, who died 5th September 1799, in the 
84th year of his age ; leaving to his successor and surviving brethren 
a bright example of the kind affections which endear, and the 
Chnstian virtues that adorn, the sacred office that he so long and so 
faithfully fiUed." 

The next mural tablet we have to notice was erected near 
the south-east comer by "William Johnston, a successful 
West India planter, in remembrance of his spouse, Eebecca 
Ressin, who died at Kelton 2nd January, 1802, aged 43. 
After realising a handsome competency in Demerara, of which 
island Mrs. Johnston was a native, Mr. Johnston spent his 
latter days in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. The tablet, 
a neat marble one, now very much decayed, commemorates 
also himself, died 17th November, 1846, aged 73; and his 
mother Elizabeth Rowlandson, died 18th March 1789, aged 60. 

A slab laid in front of Mr. Linn's monument bears the 
name of John Brand, watchmaker, died 15th December 1802, 
aged 48 ; also those of his sons Joseph and William, the 
former of whom died 24th June 1799, aged 21 ; the latter 
4th August 1810, aged 28. The following verse from Gray's 
Elegy is embodied in the inscription : 

" Can storied urn or animated bust. 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ; 
Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust. 
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death." 



376 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 

Below these beautiful lines^ which must often recur to the 
memory of churchyard musers, appears a merited tribute to 
James Brand, representing him as "an affectionate husband, 
a fond father, and a' sincere friend," who died '^deeply 
regretted." 

Close to the Archibald memorial rises a stone commemo- 
rating Bobert Dickson of Kenbank, who for several years 
practised as a surgeon in the Burgh, died 14th June 1816, 
aged 42 ; . also Gordon Wylie, his spouse ; William, their 
infant son ; and Janet, Mr. Dickson's sister, wife of William 
Dobie, Kingholm Quay, died 7th October 1832, aged 53. 

On the marble tablet of a mural monument, adjoining the 
Tferraughtie ground, on the east side, we read as follows : 



(( 



Sacred to the memory of John Johnston, of Netherwood, Esq., 
'an eminent merchant of the city of Lotidon, and one of her Majesty's 
Justices of the Peace for the County. He died the 28th day of April 
1760, aged 65 years. This monument was erected in grateful remem- 
brance by his brother, George Johnston, Esq., of London, merchant." 



Passing from the Old Churchyard and the Old Church, 
with all their venerable memorials and hallowed associations, 
•we proceed, in the chapters which remain, to notice the 
modem portion of the Cemetery. 




THE NKW GROUND. 

ITS PUBCHASB BY THE HERITORS. 

(OWAEDS the close of 1848, when Dumfries was suffer- 
ing from a second visitation of cholera, the Kirk 
Session originated ^ movement for increasing the 
burial-ground of the parish. This they did on the 13th of 
December, by arranging for a joint meeting of the Burgh 
magistrates and landward heritors, which was held on the 
28th, with the view of taking the subject into consideration. 
There were present — ^Provost Kennedy (in the chair), Bailie 
Nicholson, Bailie Leighton, Francis Maxwell, for F. C. 
Maxwell of Milnhead, J, B. Hepburn of Castledykes, Archi- 
bald Hamilton, for "William M*Lellan of High Kelton, Philip 
Forsyth, one of the trustees of the late "William Forsyth of 
Ladyfield, and Alexander Simpson, writer, for Mr. Campbell 
of Craigs. Drs. Wallace and Thomas T. Duncan were also in 
attendance. Mr. Hamilton initiated the proceedings with a 
few remarks, shewing that the Session felt themselves com- 
pelled by the crowded state of St. MichaeFs Churchyard to 
take steps for securing additional accommodation. After 
some discussion, a committee was appointed to consider " the 
whole matter" and report upon it, which they did to an 
adjourned meeting held 23d January 1849. Several pieces 
of ground were recommended by them as suitable, more 
especially " a small field about an acre in extent belonging to 
Mr [Charles] Hogg, adjoining the Churchyard at the east 
corner," which, they said, would " form merely an extension 
of the present burying-ground, and in the least objectionable 
quarter, being that furthest removed from any dwellings in 
the town." It was further stated by the committee that the 
owner of the field was quite prepared to sell it, and that 
" with the relief now afforded by St. Maiys burying-ground 
this addition would be sufficient for the wants of the parish 
for several generations." 
Mr. Hogg, on being negotiated with, agreed to take 



378 MKXORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

£280 for the field, excluding cost of titles, and the bargain 
was ratified by a meeting of the magistrates and heritony 
held 29th November 1850, at which there were present the 
Bev. Dr. Wallace, Provost Nicholson, Bailie Leighton, Bobort 
Kemp, Town-Clerk, James Hairstens of Acrehead, and John 
Thorbum, acting for Mr. Stott of Netherwood and proprietor 
of Mountainhall ; the meeting resolving further that the 
diBposition of the ground be taken ''in favour of William 
Nicholson, present Provost, John Scott, present senior Bailioi 
and their successors in office, and of James Hairstens at 
Acrehead, Bobert Threshie, and James Stewart, factor for 
William Douglas of Craigs, for behoof of the whole heritoes 
of the parish." By means of a bill which these parties 
granted, the field was bought, and afterwards regularly laid 
out and enclosed according to a plan prepared by Bailie 
Andrew Crombie, architect. In 1862 the sums expended 
in purchasing the ground and adapting it for a place of 
sepulture had with interest risen to £&I4 ; the wall coating 
j£l07 17s 3d, levelling and superintendence £28 17s lOd, and 
the laying out of the walks £b. As a set off on the other 
side, j£131 Is 6d had been received for grave plots at the 
same date ; and nine years afterwards a goodly balance had 
been realised. On 19th June 1871, Mr. James H. M'Gowan,, 
as derk to the heritors, reported to a meeting of that body a 
balance of ^£347, as shewn by the accounts, which sum wats 
divided among the parties who had advanced the purchase 
money ; and out of the half of it which fell to the Burgh the 
Town Council voted £150 towards the expense of reseating 
the lower part of St. Michael's Church. From a second 
balance another dividend of £320 16s was declared on 10th 
June 1875, by means of which the whole sums advanced, 
with the interest upon them, were paid off ; and there are 
allotments of space still remaining which when sold will yield 
another suiplus, 

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE OROtJND. 

On entering the ground through the wide ungated gap 
made in the old east wall we see at a glance that the dust of 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 379 

many hundred persons must be lying sepulchred below its 
turf. The ground, extending to an imperial acre, is oblong 
in shape, and already its walls on the north, south, and west 
are nearly covered with inoi-tuary literature and sculpture ; 
while a large portion of its surface " heaves with mouldering^ 
heaps,'' or is becoming florid with monumental erections. 
Many of the memorials are beautiful works of art, and their 
general appearance is imposing, though the element of the 
venerable, which gives a special character to the Old Ground, 
is nowhere to be seen. We look in vain for altar or table- 
stones, so many of which were noticed in preceding chapters : 
they went out of fashion just before the New Ground was 
opened, and their place is here occupied with headstones — ► 
usually larger in size and more graceful in shape than those 
displayed by the old part of the Cemetery — ^and with im- 
posing pillars, shafts, canopies, and pyramids. Of Latin, 
long emphatically the language of epitaphs, no trace is 
found, except occasionally on a heraldic escutcheon, its use 
for monumental purposes being rare during the current 
century ; sorrowing friends now preferring to commemorate 
their dead in the living language of the country, and gene* 
rally making the record briefer and less elaborate than was 
customary in preceding centuries. ' How rapidly cell is being 
added to cell in this underground suburb of the modem 
Dumfriesians — of those who lately breathed and had their 
being in the animated town, and who are now making popu- 
lous the narrow houses constructed for them by the sexton- 
architect ! 

We need not particularise in detail all the various 
edifices which, rising above the surface, present a striking 
contrast to the hidden dormitories with which they stand 
related ; and even were we to do so the inventoiy that would 
be complete to-day would become fragmentary a few years- 
hence, so rapidly is the soil becoming "sown" with the seed 
com of humanity, deceased and disorganised, yet having in it 
the germs of a life that will never end. Meanwhile, there- 
fore, we shall only notice in detail such monuments as have 
been erected in honour of noteworthy individuals, or which 



380 HBH0RIAL8 OF ST. MICHAXL's, 

manifest superior artistic merit, or are in other resx>eetB 
remarkable; leaving the rest to be dealt mth iu more 
general terms. 

THE SOUTH WALL. 

On or near the south Trail thirty-one tombstones are placed, 
the first of them being a stately pillar which commemorates 
John Fergusson of Douievale. Possessed of good business 
talents, sharpened by legal training, he took an active part in 
the Bef orm Bill agitation ; and soon after that measure was 
made law he became one of the popularly-elected members 
of the Town Council, discharging his official duties with tke 
utmost credit For several years he filled the important 
office of Proctor, or Crown representative of the Vice- 
Admiralty Court, Island of Mauritius. On returning from 
abroad, he spent the remainder of his life in Dumfries, his 
native town. Mr. Fergusson was son-in-law of the late 
Provost Fraser. He died much regretted on the 26ih 
December 1866, aged 55. The monument is of light grey 
Dalbeattie granite, and is a very graceful as well as imposing 
object. 

Next to it appears a handsome edifice, on the pediment 
of which the figure of Justice, with sword and scales, the 
tables of the Mosaic Law, and the Statutes of the British 
realm are artistically chiselled : these emblems indicating 
that it is a judge who lies buried below — one who passed 
sentences upon his fellow-men — gone to give in his own 
account at the bar of a heavenly tribunal. '^Blessed are 
those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find 
watching." These sacred words form part of the inscription ; 
and if rightfully applied in this case, as we beUeve they were, 
the verdict of the Judge above would not be unfavourable. 
The monument is " Sacred to the memory of John Pitcaim 
^Trotter, advocate, for twenty-eight years Sheriff-Substitute ci 
Dumfriesshire." Died at Oakfield, dth July 1867, aged 63. 
A Bei'wickshireman by birth, he was called to the bar in 
1826, and entered upon his judicial duties here in 1839. 
Somewhat stem when on the bench, he was geniality itself 
when in the social circle. Not only was he a good lawyer 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL'S, 381 

and an able judge^ but possessed of high Hteraiy aoquire<- 
ments^ which were manifested in the pages of ''Edward 
Lascelles," a novel, in translations from the German, and in 
a few poetical productions ; and which might have borne still 
greater fruit had not the prosaic calls of professional business 
and other paramount requirements compelled him to throw 
aside the pen of auliiorship. His active duties as a Sheriff 
did not, however, hinder him from contributing valuable 
service to the general business of the County, or from ren- 
dering homage due to the claims of religion and benevolence. 
He was President of the Education Society from the date of 
its foundation till that of his own death, in which capacity 
he contributed greatly to its success — its Bagged School 
department affording a fitting field for his philanthropy. 

Some paces further east we notice the memorial stone of 
Margaret Young, " bom in February 1794, died in March, 
1871 ;" and her husband the Eev. Eobert Machray, M.A. 
The inscription states that he was " A minister of Christ in 
connection with the Congregational Union- during a peiiod of 
nearly forty-eight years, and for more than twenty-two years 
pastor of the Congregational Church, Dumfries. Bom in 
May, 1799, died in January, 1873." Mr. Machray was a native 
of the north of Scotland, was educated at Aberdeen Uni- 
versity, began his ministerial labours in 1825, nine years after 
which he became pastor of the Congregational Church, here, 
succeeding the Bev. Thomas Young, who had succeeded the 
first minister of the body, the Bev. John Dunn. As a 
preacher Mr. Machray occupied a high position. He was 
fluent, fervid, and when at his best had a fine soft dulcet 
voice, which he could modulate with great effect. There was 
always much of the Gospel in his discourses, and after ably 
eoEpounding his subject matter and enriching his views with 
apt illustrations, he never closed without appealing power- 
fally to the consciences of his audience. From 1842 till 
1854 he officiated in other charges, accepting in the latter 
year a cordial call to resume his pastdrate in Dumfries. 
After a ministry not less faithful than protracted, he with- 
drew into private life in 1869, and passed peacefully away to 



982 HEM0BIAL8 OF ST. MIGHASL's. 

his rest on 15th January^ 1873. His youthful son, John. 
Young, died in Maroh, 1852, is ako named on the monument. 

Still further eastward appears a handsome monument in 
memory of Thomas Hairstens M'Gowan, writer. The eldest 
son of the late ProTOst M'Gowan, he manifested a hereditary- 
aptitude for municipal affairs. While yet quite a slariplmg 
he entei^ed upon public life ; and, though cut off at an early- 
age, he was for nearly twenty years one of our foremost men. 
He first acquired distinction as a promoter of the Lochrutton 
Water Scheme. Juvenile though he was when that great 
sanitary enterprise was first mooted, he brought to its advo- 
cacy the resources of a masculine intellect, which helped 
much to secure its success. Mr. M'Gowan became a member 
of the Town Council in 1856, there finding a fitting field for 
his superior debating powers, and also for the sagacity in 
dealing with local questions for which he was distinguished. 
While as a speaker he seldom rose to the highest kind of 
eloquence, he was singularly fluent and dexterous, and always 
so ready with his facts, arguments, and witty repartees, that 
the Burgh could boast of few, if any, who could match him 
in debate. While carrying on an extensive law practice 
with his brother, M r. James H. !M*Gowan, he was actively 
engaged in other important avocations, the chief of which 
were of a political kind, arising out of his connection with 
the Liberal party as Parliamentary agent for the late Mr. 
Ewart. On the tombstone there are three marble tablets, 
the middle one of which bears the name of the deceased, with 
the intimation that he died 12th May 1872, aged 50 years. 

To many visitors of the Churchyard the latest erection on 
the south wall will have a primary interest, seeing that it 
marks the Long Home where rests the sweet laureate of 
Home Life, David Dunbar, lying hushed in a dreamless sleep 
with four of his children, William, Mary Armstrong, David, 
and William Hewitson Cairns. "I wish the bairns were 
hame," he sang in one of his finest lyrics : 

** The house is unco still, gadewife, 
I hear nae noise nor din ; 
Nae sweet wee voices lilt a sang, 
Nor pattering f eetie rin !" 



HKHOBIALS OF ST. UICHASL's. 383 

And how emphatically '* still " is this spot where father and 

ofGspring now ^ sleep the sleep that knows no waking '* while 

time endures ; yet we know that "the better being'' does 

not end with death — tha^ the narrow resting-place of the 

grave is but the avenue to life eternal. The comforting 

assurance of this truth was experienced by Mr. Dunbar 

when^ smarting seventeen years ago under sore bereavement, 

he could say 

" Fareweel my sweet baimie ! well soon meet again ; 
When my spirit is rid o' this sad world o' pain 
Our souls will unite in those bright realms above 
Where death is unknown amidst perfected love ! 
I^reweel, my wee Willie ! a tender fareweel. 
Till our spirits rejoice in the land o' the leal. 
And my ain wasted form near thy wee head is laid 
In the silent kirk-yard, 'neath thy daisy-clad bed 1" 

David Dunbar belonged to an old Dumfries family, some 
of whose members, as we remarked in a previous chapter, 
were men of decided genius, and was the eldest son of our 
respected townsman Mr. George Dunbar. For about twenty- 
one years he oflSciated as writing-master of the Academy, 
during which lengthened period he did much to mould the 
hand-writing of our present middle-claas juveniles, and of the 
generation now grown up by which they were immediately 
preceded. Overflowing with emotion, and possessed of an 
ardent fancy, he devoted much of his leisure to poetical 
pursuits, the fruits of which enriched the local newspapers 
or were garnered in two separate volumes, one of which bore 
the date of 1859, the other embodying the matured products 
of his muse. The latter passed through the press whilst he 
was lying on '^ the brink of Jordan'' waiting for the summons 
to cross, which reached him a few days after the book 
appeared — the ^' Poems of Home Life," that constitutes his 
own best monument. " Mr. Dunbar,'' says the Rev. David 
Hogg in a fine memorial sketch of the deceased, " had a very 
versatile muse, and went from grave to gay as the * tid came 
owre him.' " In addition to his other publications, '^ he con- 
tributed to the Dumfries Standard several poetic pieces of 
considerable length, written in the native Doric, and full of 
humour and local historical lore. Of these the most im- 



384 MKM0B1AL8 0¥ ST. M1CHA£L*6. 

portant were 'The Cocks of the Steeples,' ^Ane Letter 
from ye Auld Brig/ ' What the Seven Trades Punch^bowl 
heard and saw,' 'Chronicles of the Greyfriars' Yennel/ 
'Chronicles of the Greyfriars' Monastery/ The 'Bedes- 
man's Budget/ ' Nights in the Globe/ ' A Beverie in Carla- 
verock Castle/ and ' A Nicht wi' Bums.' These all excited 
great interest on their appearance from week to week from 
the historical recollections of the past which they narrated^ 
the persons represented when dialogue was introduced^ such 
as Bums, Horace, Cunningham, the Ettrick Shepherd, and 
Mayne, and from the joviality of the scenes which were 
always agreeably social, but never boisterous." It will thus 
be seen that Mr Dunbar wrote on an immense variety of 
subjects ; but we liked him best when depicting local inci- 
dents, grave or gay— when portraying the joys and sorrows 
of domestic life, or when his harp was tuned to themes of 
love and patriotism. By far the best of all Mr Dunbar's 
serious pieces appeared in the Dumfries Standard, in the form 
of an epistle to the editor, beginning " Another year of grace 
has fled," written on his sick-bed, just about four months 
before he died. Speaking of his general character. Dr. W, A 
F. Browne, in a tribute to the deceased, says : " I liked the 
trusting, jubilant nature of the man, that he lived Out and 
up to, according to his pwn quiet estimate of the poetic cha- 
racter and career ; and I liked his poetry as speaking to my 
heart, home affections, and to those kindly thoughts and 
feelings which neither age nor darkness can efface." Besides 
his poetical accomplishments, Mr. Dunbar had a copious fund 
of general information, was an excellent converser, a popular 
platform lecturer, while in his intercourse with his fellows 
and in the family circle he gave a practical exemplification of 
the graces which he sang. 

The monument is a very graceful one. It was com- 
missioned by Mrs. Dunbar, to whom her husband's last 
volume was lovingly dedicated, and is, like many other 
edifices in the New Ground, the handiwork of Mr. Flint. A 
lyre, urn-surmounted, occupies a prominent place upon it, to 
express in emblematic language the poetical character of the 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MIOHAEL's. 365 

deceased ; the inscription itself being simply ^' In memory of 
David Dunbar, "Writing Master, Dumfries Academy. Bom 
23d April, 1828, died 23d June, 1673,^' with the names of his 
departed children, as already given, followed by the words, 
" The Lord doeth all things well." 

Invidious grave ! how dost thou rend asunder, 
Whom love has knit and sympathy made one !" 

Of other husbands severed from their partners, and of 
wives made widows, we have along this wall abundant trace, 
monumental stones appearing to commemorate the following : 

Nancy Robertson, wife of Lieutenant James Rutherford, 
a brave officer of the Old 94th Regiment, Scotch Brigade, 
who passed through numerous campaigns, and spent his 
latter days peacefully at Westpark, Maxwelltown. Mrs. 
Rutherford died 28th November 1867, aged 83, The monu- 
ment to her memory is very neat and tasteful. 

Caroline Scott Howat, wife of William Nibloe, the former 
a daughter of Convener Howat, the latter a son of Convener 
Nibloe. The monument is a very handsome cross-surmounted 
structure, the pediment of which exhibits a graceful sitting 
figure indulging in all the abandonment of inconsolable 
grief. Mrs. Nibloe died 6th April 1868, aged 53. 

Agnes Coltart, wife of John Glover, seedsman, died 2d 
June 1870, aged 32, with Agnes, their infant daughter. In 
this instance the memorial stone, which is otherwise un- 
adorned, displays a rich festooned pediment, which gives it a 
very fine effect. 

Jane Brown, wife of the Rev. Alexander Murdoch, formerly 
of Berwick"On-Tweed, and now residing in the neighbour- 
hood of Dumfries. Above the marble tablet which states 
that Mrs. Murdoch died 29th March 1872, aged 64, there are 
carved a coronetted fiUet with hand and sword, and the 
motto, " Turris Fortis mihi Deus." 

Hannah Hunter, wife of Alexander Borthwick, a designer 
of tweed patterns in the Nithsdale Mills. This edifice is not 
so ornate as some others in the row, but it is neat and well 
proportioned. Mrs. Borthwick died 21st May 1872, aged 38 ; 

Y 



386 XBHOBIALS OF ST. HXCHABL's. 

her son Geoii^e, who died in early childhood, is also named 
in the inscription. 

To Jane Patersony wife of Alexander Borthwick, M.D.^ a 
very imposing and beautiful monument is devoted, a tall 
cross rising f ronf a richly-bordered basement being its most 
characteristic feature. The tablet states that she died Ist 
July 1872, at the early age of 27. 

Elizabeth Dalgleish, wife of the Bev. Thomas Bowman, 
formerly of Catrine, Ayrshire, and now residing in our own 
Burgh. The monument, with initial letter and leafage 
on the pediment, wears a very graceful aspect. Mrs. Bow- 
man died 14th January 1873, aged 59. 

Jessie Ellen Irving, wife of David Cameron, died 15tli 
January 1873, at the youthful age of 21, whose name is borne 
by a cruciform structure, from the intersection of which a 
seraphic figure looks upward with smile serene ; and Ann 
Bartle, spouse of Gkorge Gibson, spirit merchant. Maxwell- 
town, died 16th December 1874, at the venerable age of 82, 
swell the list of the monumented dead, who lie along the 
same line of wall. 

A memorial to another departed wife remains to be noticed. 
It is in the form of a magnificent urn-surmounted obelisk^ 
raised in loving remembrance of Margaret Bichardson by 
her husband Kichard Kirk. She died at the Eailway Station 
Hotel 10th January 1873. The edifice is of Aberdeen granite, 
and is from the chisel of Mr. William Keith, jiuL, of that city. 

Between these monuments of wives deceased, appear others 
scai'cely less handsome in remembrance of departed husbands: 
William Paterson, Co£fee House Hotel, died 4th November 
1872, aged 49, the memorial in this instance being topped by 
a graceful urn; James Dickson, innkeeper, died 14th Feb- 
ruary 1873, aged 61, a garland with initial letter ornament- 
ing the pediment; Bobert Kerr, died 28th Jamiaiy 1873, 
aged 27, erected by Jessie Carradice, his spouse ; Geoige 
Drysdale, surgeon-dentist, died 23d February 1874, aged 33, 
erected by Janet Hamilton, his wife — their infant-son Joha 
being also named in the inscription. 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 887 

" Dull Grave, thou spoil'st the dance of youthfiil blood !" 
Some of his youthful victims, caught when heaven lay 
stretched around them, lie prisoned here in addition to 
those that have been already specified : Thomas Muir, 
son of George Muir, aged 14, whose last words, it is 
stated, were " Jesus, save me ! Save me, Jesus ;" Jane Moore 
Halliday, 6 years old, who is commemorated by a neat little 
monument, a massive urn upon which is festooned with a 
chaplet^ the votive offering of parental love and sorrow ; and 
Walter Murray Scott, son of Mr. Walter Henry Scott, manu- 
facturer, fittingly commemorated by a pretty little rustic 
cross of pure white marble, seeing that infant innocence was 
his, when snatched away. The quaint lines of Samuel 
Wesley, written in 1692, here occur to us : 

" Beneath, a sleeping infant lies, 

To earth whose ashes lent, 
More glorious shall hereafter rise. 

Though not more innocent. 
When the archangel's trump shall blow, 

And souls and bodies join. 
What crowds will wish their lives below 

Had been as short as thine I" 

Names of others appear who had a longer lease of life, but 
were still young when cut down as " flowers of the field ;'' 
James, son of Abraham Malam, gas-manager, aged 21, over 
whose narrow bed rises a stately pedestal with cross ; three 
members of one family, Joseph Anderson, died at New 
Orleans, aged 20, Thomas Jardine Anderson, died at sea^ 
aged 21, and Mary Anderson, died at Wellgreen, 1st Novem- 
ber 1873, aged .38, are named upon one neat headstone ; 
another rises in memory of Eobertina Thomson, and of her 
father, William Thomson, once farmer in Comlongan Mains,, 
her age being 27, and he dying 28th November 1870, aged 74» 

Along the same mural border rises a handsome memorial 
in honour of John Oostine, of Lochvale, formerly of Glen- 
sone, the marble tablet on which states that he died 15th 
August 1871, aged 57 ; also a very neat monument to 
William Coltart, a worthy medical gentleman, who, after 
spending his time as a practitioner in Templesowerby, West- 
moreland, retired to Nithbank, in his native town, where he 



388 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHABL's. 

died 26ih March 1874, aged 67 ; also, an extremely graceful 
one to Eobert Primrose died at Kirkbog, Closebum, 16tli 
May 1876, aged 37, and John Hiddleston, his infant son ; 
and another to Mary Isabella, daughter of the late John 
Moore, of Balnahow, St. Anne, Isle of Man, died at Bum- 
fries, 8th March 1874, aged 43. 

James Bertram, gardener, died 30th November 1848, 
aged 78, receives commemoration from a humble slab, 
bearing to have been erected by his youngest son, the Bev. 
James McGregor Bertram, '' first Protestant Dissenting 
missionary of the Island of St. Helena, where the great exHe 
Napoleon slept in death," the inscription also stating that the 
deceased ''was one of the best of fathers, brought up his 
children in the fear of God^ in the knowledge and love of His 
truth, and in sacred respect for His Holy Sabbaths.'' 




OKLAJPTER XXIX. 
THE KOBTH WALL. 

LAIMING our first attention there rises on the north 
wall .a graceful cross — ^the intersection of which dis- 
plays a hand exquisitely carved — " In loving memory 
of John Wilson/ who died 3l8t October 1858, aged 60 ; and 
of his wife Janet Beattie. Next to it appears a handsome 
monument in remembrance of Charlotte Duncan Caman, wife 
of James Bamsey, plumber, died 25th March 1874, aged 43, 
and their youthful son, Alexander Stuart. 

Over the spot at which we now stand, a memorial stone 
will soon arise, bearing the honoured name of Thomas Aird, 
journalist and poet. He died at his residence of Castlebank, 
Dumfries, 25th April 1876, aged 73. A fine obituary notice 
of Mr Aird appeared soon afterwards in the JScotsmcm, con- 
tributed by our accomplished townsman Mr. Thomas M'Kie, 
of the Scottish bar, from which we quote the following : 

" Mr. Aird was bom on the 28th of August 1802, and had 
thus entered on his seventy-fourth year. A native of the 
parish of Bowden, Boxburghshire, near to Melrose, under 
the shadow of the Eildon Hills, and almost within sight and 
hearing of the Tweed, the sceneiy of his native district, a 
very nursery of the muses, and the fame Scott was then 
earning through all the Border-land by the publication of the 
"Minstrelsy," may, not unnaturally, have stirred within 
him the first promptings of literary ambition. His parents 
belonged to that honest but humble rank of peasant life that 
has given so mauy men to the Scottish Church, and their 
desire waa to train him for the ministry. With this object 
they gave him a sound, classical education at the parish 
schools of Bowden and Melrose, and afterwards sent him to 
the University of Edinburgh, where, we believe, he first made 
the acquaintance of a Dumfriesshire student, his life-long 
friend, Thomas Carlyle. Though Aird attended the Theolo- 
gical Classes, he never got licensed as a n^nister, not from 



990 XBMOEtALB OF ST. XICHAXL's. 

any consdentiotis scraples — ^for he wag a firm believer in the 
canonfi of the Church — ^bnt because in those days it was 
difficult for any youth, without influential friends, to get 
presented to a living. Besides, during all his college life, 
Aird had been secretly but sedulously courting the muses, 
reading Spenser, Homer, and oilier favourite poets, to the 
regret of his parents, and the neglect^ we fear, of the heavier 
and graver divines. It got also whispered abroad among his 
friends that he had written a tragedy or drama, and, with 
the fate of Home's '' Douglas " before their eyes, it vras 
deemed hopeless to expect that the staid elders of any con* 
gregation would permit him to minuter to them in hcdy 
things. Mistaken, unfortunate elders! Happy, indeed, 
would have been the x)eople and parish that could have 
secured the services of so good a Christian gentleman as 
Thomas Aird. It was, however, destined otherwise. For 
want of better occupation he drifted into literature, and 
lived for several years on the fruits of his pen. He 
became a contributor to BladkwoodP^ Magazme^ and acted 
for some tune as the editor of the Edifibwgk Weekly 
Jxywmal, In 1827, he published "Religious Characteids- 
tics,'' a series of essays written in elegant prose, breathing 
as t(derant yet reverential a spirit as if Jeremy Taylor had 
been their author. In 1835, he was appointed editor of the 
Ihmfriei and OdUoway Herald, which caused him to quit 
Edinburgh and settle down in Dumfries, where he spent the 
rest of his life. On his retirement from the Herald in 1863, 
he was, out of respect for his character, entertained at a 
public dinner in Dumfries, and presented with a handsome 
testimonial of plate and books, subscribed for by men of all 
shades of political opinion. During his life as a jotumalist, 
he found time to write and publish various editions of his 
poems, and other works in prose, the most characteristic of 
which is the '' Old Bachelor in the Old Scottish Village." 
The '' Old Bachelor " was, doubtless, himself, for, imlike most 
poets, Aird lived and died in single blessedness. This was 
the more remarkable, as his tall, handsome, manly form, and 
a countenance which even in old age was beautiful, must in 



• MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 391 

youth have charmed the heart of many a fair one. But, 
probably, his straitened means did not give him the chance 
to marry until he deelned it too late to change his mode of 
life. A similar cause, and a proud, independent, self-reliant 
spirit, kept him aloof from general society, which his culture 
and conversation would have adorned. Though a social, 
cheerful companion, and an apt scholar, he latterly became 
too much of a hermit, and lived, as he used to say, *' much too 
much alone." No man more faithfully carried into practice 
Milton's maxim of " plain living and high thinking ;" and 
we question if any other man of letters or poet before ever 
regulated his life with such prudent forethought, or so 
honourably contrived out of slender professional gains to be 
so generous to others, yet lay up for himself an ample pro- 
vision against the approach and infirmities of age. This 
frugality, alike honourable to himself and the literary calling 
he represented, enabled him to withdraw from the editorship 
of the Herald at sixty, and enjoy a well-merited repose. 
His latter days were spent in peace and plenty musing on 
poetry and other things of this world, and preparing for the 
next. In the contemplation of the " silent magnanimity of 
nature and her God" above and around him, he found an all- 
sufficient society, and compensation for many a solitary hour. 
From his house, as he was wont to say, he could look down 
upon the shining river — that symbol of human life — ^and had 
only to turn his eyes towards the old-fashioned church and 
churchyard of Troqueer, on the other bank of the stream, 
to be constantly reminded there is only " such a gap between 
life and death." 

It was when a comparatively young man that Mr. Aird 
produced " The Devil's Dream," the most powerful of all his 
poems ; and it is o|i that piece and a few other small ones, 
such as "The Swallow" and " My Mother's Grave," that his 
reputation as a poet is chiefly based. While attending well 
to his editorial duties in Dumfries, he found leisure to produce 
several lengthened poems; "Othuriel," "The Captive of 
Fez," and *^The Tragedy of Wold" being the chief. As 
collected in a handsome foolscap octavo volume, his works 



392 MSMDBIALS 07 ST. HICHAKL's. . 

hare passed through several editions ; and idiOe niany oqb- 
temporary productions whkh were at first hailed vith en- 
thusiasm hare sank opt of sight, Mr. Aird's xx>em8y which 
neTer created a sensation beyond a limited drde, seem to be 
growing in public f aTonr, and will, we doubt not, help long 
to keep his memory green. Of few men could it be more 
emphatically said that his mind was his kingdom ; and rarely 
has poetical genius been freer from aberrations of any kind, 
or a warm emotional nature been more happQy controlled by 
sound judgment, than in the case of Mr. Aird. Never, even 
when acting as a journalist, did he take any {Hrominent 
personal part in local movements ; but do^m till the dose of 
his career he manifested a lively interest in public affairs, 
municipal and general. He was a most effective speaker ; it 
was only, however, on great occasions that the eloquence 
which flowed so readily from his pen found expression in 
spoken words. Thousands even at his own door never sus- 
pected that the poet was susceptible of being transmuted into 
the orator till five years ago the Scott Centenary, as cele- 
brated at Dumfries, brought him out gushing, brilliant, and 
powerful, in the latter capacity ; but then the subjects he 
had to discourse upon lay nearest his heart — ^Bums and Sir 
Walter — ^tl^e only men living or dead, we believe, for whcon 
he cherished a sentiment of hero-worship. And this leads us 
to remark that except where he was classical he was in- 
tensely national — a Scottish gentieman all over of the grand 
antique type, modified by modern polish and by cosmo- 
politan sympathies. 

At Dumfries our deceased friend spent the summer and 
autumn of his existence ; and though, after the lapse of two 
score years, his head had become white and his step had 
ceased to be elastic, his heart still remained young : like the 
'^blythe new-comer'' of his well-known song, his life had no 
wintry experience, unless it were the season in which he 
passed through the valley of shades, and even that was irra- 
diated for him by light from above. . " Bury me," said the 
dying bard, '' in old St. Michael's, hallowed by the dust of 
Burns ;" his desire being to rest, not among his kindred, but 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 393 

within the precincts of his adopted home^ which he loved so 
much ; and accordingly the renowned Cemetery had another 
illustrious tenant added to its roll on the 1st of May 1876. 

On the preceding day (Sahbath) the Bev. John Paton^ 
minister of St. Michael's, made a graceful reference to the 
deceased, in course of which he said — " For loi^ years he 
has worshipped with this congregation ; and though he had 
perhaps more of intellectual power and more of intellectual 
cultivation than any one among us there was none more 
child-like in his spirit of worship. He realised his position 
before his Holy Father, God. The faithful humility of the 
man in matters of religion should be an example to us all. 
On one of the last days on which I saw him as his minister, 
I happened to remark that it seemed impossible for me, 
comparatively so young and unlearned, to say anything which 
might be of use to him. He turned on me that peculiar 
illuminated look of his which came across his face only on 
rare occasions, and said '* Speak on, and pray for me. I feel 
just like a little child before my Gfod." How rare this child- 
like faith, how rare this devout humility 1 Thomas Aird 
all through his life was an example of self-reliance, but his 
self-reliance had with it no vanity nor self-assertion, which 
are the more common accompaniments of this mighty human 
life-power. He had a grand pride of an old and fast-dis- 
appearing type. He trusted €rod and believed in himself, and 
he strove to keep himself worthy of Grod, and to be what he 
believed a man should be. Determinedly, truthfully, quietly 
he chose his life-path, and faithfully walked in it to the end. 
A simpler or more amiable man never lived. He envied 
none, he hated none. His sympathy was great, that of a 
poet, for nature and mankind, while he ever strove after the 
more ennobling sympathy, that of human life that is with 
God through Jesus Christ. To-morrow we shall lay the 
gentle poet's dust in the Churchyard around this house of 
God, to lie amid the great majority till the resurrection. 
This thought recals some touching lines which long ago he 
wrote about a tx)untry churchyard, and which shew some- 
thing of the pious spirit of the man : 



394 MEHORIALe OP ST. XICHABL^S. 

' Here in their simple graves 
The genertttioiur of the hamlet sleep ; 
All grassy simple, save that, here and there, 
Love-planted no^vcrets deck the lowly sod. 
Fond love, we soom thee not : to bring die bud 
Of living beanty from the ashes dear. 
Be still thine artless emblematic war 
Against the dull dishonour of the grave. 
Bloom then, ye little flowers, and sweetly smell ; 
Draw up the neart*s dust in your flueJiing hues 
And odorous breath, and give it to the bee, 
And give it to the aor, circling to go 
From life to life, through aU that living flux 
Of interchange which makes this wondrous world. 
Gro where it will, the dear dust is not lost. 
Found it will be in its own place and form, 
On that great day, the Besunection Day.* 

The poet's heart is still. The fire of his eye is quenched. 

His heart will lie unstrung through all the coming time. But 

his life is saf e> we believe^ with Christ in God, and his eye 

will behold the glory of the Kingdom, and his heart be strung 

with everlasting strings as he joins in the anthems of the 

blessed ones around the throne. A death like this leaves a 

blank. We miss a form well known and honoured. A man 

we loved is gone. But we need not sorrow ; for the years 

were full and the time had come for God to take his own." 

Mr. Alexander Anderson ("Surfaceman'*), who was present 

at the funeral, has favoured us with the folloT^ng tribute : 

** I went behind the dust of Thomas Aird. 
The first of summer sunshine from above 
Fell like an angel's smile upon the sward. 
In one mote benison of peace and love. 

I heard behind me in the solenm throng 
The whispered tribute rising with the tread — 

The reverential praises which belong 
To none upon the earth but the pure dead. 

And he who walked in silence by my side, 
Hearing such tender words within his ear, . 

Turned — sorrow mingling with a lowly pride - 
To catch the whispers that he held so dear. 

A gentle sadness grew within his eye. 

And softer grew his kindly earnest voice^ 
As he half -whispered, * It is well to die. 

For deaths like his should make the heart rejoice. 

' I knew my dead friend in my earlier years ; 

I knew ms child-Uke heart so pure and bftve ; 
And all his words rise up Uke sweetest tears, 

Ab we go onward to his waiting grave.' 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 396 

O noblest of all earthly things to hear, 

The heart's pure worship of the noble dead, 
The worth and saciedness we all revere, 

When soul meets soul to join in all that's said. 

Dust unto dust. A wreath of flowers was cm 

The cofifin, seeming to the saddened sight 
The memory of the gentle poet, gone 

To the white world within the other light. 

We turned away, and left him to his sleep, 
In the same churchyard where the greater dust 

Of the j^and ploughman sleeps ; but we can keep 
His lesser memory, nor let it rust. 

The love he had for quiet breathing things, 
From which he took his nature, still be ours. 

The running brook and joyous bird, that sings 
As if its melody drew up the flowers ; 

The turning of a leaf, from whose slight sound 

He caught an echo from the purer sphere, 
And musically shaped it into bound. 

That other kindred hearts might stop and hear ; 

The sunshine from the sky that, falling on him, 
Brought down pure thoughts which lay within his heart, 

White as the white wings of the Seraphim, 
Until thqy took new lustre fromhis ajrt : 

They did not leave him, but throu|fh all the years 
Were with him, handmaids to his simple trust 

In God and Christ, which nipped away fiiose fears 
That come upon us when we think of dust. 

This may and can be ours. We give the grave 

Its mortal dust. But all the pure in man, 
Strong in its right to battle and oe brave. 

Claims his high song as part of God's own plan. 

Peace to his dust. The young, fair summer keeps 
Her holiday of flowers, and Ught, and song, 

Making the earth all music ; but he sleeps, 
Unheeding of the world that rolls along. 

We walk within it like the blind who see 

With inner vision, groping on our way. 
Yearning for his serener faith ; while he 

Walks with his God within the nightless day." 

An honoured veteran of good birth and high oonnections 
is commemorated by a tasteful monument erected as a loving 
filial tribute by his daughters. It bears the following 
inscription : 

** Sacred to the memory of Dr Henry Abergavenny Wootton ; 
departed this life at Dumfries, 26th July 1871 ; youngest son of Sir 
William Wootton, Kt., M.D., of Brook Street, Grosv^ior Square, 
London ; and Mary, his wife, daughter of Colonel Charles White, and 



396 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHASL's. 

granddaiighter of the Bight Honoimble Stephen Foyntx, and niece ci 
the Bight HonoorableMaifaretGeorgianftGoantess^peaoer. Entenng 
ths nsyy tm a midshipman he terved at the battle of Irafalgar. Trans- 
ferring his services to the armj, he was present at Baidajos, Sala- 
manoa, and other battles of the Peninsnlar War, and at Waterloo ; 
and received three medals and two clasps. Studying medicine he 
rejoined the armj, and served for scMne yean in India. In 1^ he 
married Elisa Easter Tncej, danghter of the Bight Honooiahle 
James Tracey; and to their honoored and loved parents is this 
memorial raised by their only and surviving children, Eliaa, Eaiomnr, 
and Julia, A.D. 1872. As an officer brave, as a physieian akilfnl and 
humane, a true Christian, and dutiful in all the relations of Ufe. 
His latter end was peace.'* 

A Fecumbent cross placed over the grave plot bears the 
hallowed words of the sixth beatitude, ^ Blessed are the pore 
in heart, for they shall see God." 

In the conrae of Dr. Wootton's adventarooff career he 
experienced not a few perilons incidents by flood and field : 
he was twice wounded, and after the victory of Trafalgar he 
was captiqred by the French, bnt managed to escape from 
prison by disguising himself in female attire. In addition to 
several good service badges, he received a Government reward 
for saving a besieged garrison by picking up a shell thrown 
in by the enemy and tossing it over a parapet before it got 
time to burst. Domestic affairs brought the worthy veteran 
to this town, where he died at a very advanced age. 

From an artistic point of view the pediment of the next 
monument is worthy of special notice, on account of its finely 
carved female figure, which is recumbent and seemingly ab- 
sorbed in sorrow, for the loss she laments, which is that ol 
William M'Kelvie, a retired merchant, for some time a member 
of the Town Council, who was generally regretted when he died 
at his residence of Cornwall Mount, 13th May, 1871, aged 68. 

Along the Hne we see a tasteful little headstone in memory 
of Mary Gladstone, nearly related to the ex-Prime Minister 
of that name, she having been the youngest daughter of 
Thomas Gladstone, of Leith, and relict of Dr. John Nimmo, 
died 26th January, 1871, aged 83 ; while near by a beautiful 
cruciform erection also of tiny proportions treasures the 
memory of Francis Geoghegan, a Dublin gentleman, died 2d 
November, 1869, aged 37. 

To Agnes Munro, aged 6, daughter of John Wright, mer- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 397 

• 

cliant, a neat monument is devoted. A stately Gothic edifice 
marks the burj'ing ground of John Grierson, joiner, and indi- 
cates three blanks in his family circle, Agnes died at 12, 
Jessie Craig at 4, and Mary M'Kay at 10, his youthful 
children, being named in the inscription. On another impos- 
ing structure we find the name of Patrick Maxwell Johnstone, 
farmer, Bankhead, died 27th October, 1867, aged 41. 

The finest of all the erections which give a florid aspect 
to the north wall, commemorates Thomas D. Ourrie of Clerk- 
hill, died 21st July, 1868, aged 59. It consists of a graceful 
Ionic Cross, springing from a cluster of pillars, with a gra- 
dually expanding basis to rest upon. The material used is 
granite with varying shades of light brown and grey, which 
add to beauty of outline the attraction of harmonious colour. 
The capitals are of white marble ; and a fine mask of Faith 
of the same substance ornaments the base. The structure is 
a noble memento of a respected citizen, who besides achieviug 
great success in business, played a distinguished part in our 
municipal affairs. Under his adventurous and skilful 
management a small currying trade begun by him in 1837^ 
acquired such colossal proportions that it had few superiors 
north of the Border, and took within its range the best 
markets of the south, including London, Liverpool, Man- 
chester, Birmingham, Newcastle, and Leeds, in all of which 
its proprietor was well-known and equally well esteemed for his 
integrity, affability, and general character, as a manufacturer 
and merchant. For many years he was an efficient member 
of the Town Council, and his services there, and to other 
local trusts, were recognised by his elevation to the magis- 
terial bench in 1852, the duties of his bailieship being dis- 
charged by him with the utmost credit. Mr. Currie was 
warm-hearted and liberal-minded, giving of his substance 
freely to relieve the distressed, or promote the well-being of 
his fellow-creatures, morally and socially. The monument to 
him is flanked by two miniature erections of the same type, 
one of which bears the name of his only son, who died when 
seven months old, and was called Thomas Fergusson, after 
his mother's brother, Provost T. F. Smith. 



398 ' iCBMORiALS or ST. hichabl's. 

To the memory of {ui industrioos aud ent^iprUdng nursery- 
man, WilliaOi Kennedy, the next' monument is devoted. Qe 
was brother of the late Provost Kennedy, who lies in a 
different section of the same ground, and died at Stciop, 
14th August, 1867, aged 71. An infaut child, William, and 
four other members of his family are also named in the 
inscription : Helen, died 30th April 1866, aged 40 ; George, 
died 12th May 1868, aged 41 ; Elizabeth, died 2d October 
1871, aged 36 ; and William, died 25th February 1875, 
aged 37. 

A good mau and devoted minister. Dr. James Eraser, 
receives commemoration from a cross of bold Kunic design^ 
with rich details, the whole finely executed. A thorn-crowned 
Head carved on the intersection, with the words '' He was 
wounded for our transgressions," represents '^The Man of 
Sorrows ;** and "The Spirit of Theology" is personified by a 
full-length figure at the base. The inscription is as follows : — 

** Sacred to the memory of the Bey. James Eraser, D.D., minister 
of St. Michaers Church, and ^rish of Dumfries. He died on the 
Slst July 1867, aged 41 years, Dr. Eraser was pastor here for onij six 
months. His people had not time to know him fully ; yet were they 
impressed with the conviction that the eminent scholarship, pulpit 
eloquence, and general parochial usefulness which had been so well 
proved in St. Clement's, Aberdeen, and St. John's, Glasgow, would 
have made him equally a blessing to this place had hu life beten spared ; 
and by all was his premature death lamented. Members of the congre- 
gation of St. John's, Glasgow, cordially unite with Dr. Eraser's 
Dumfries friends in raising this stone to his memory." 

Of Thomas Wallace, who was long at the head of a lai^e 
business here as a skinner, we read on the next memorial— a 
handsome one of headstone shape. He died 17thFdbruary 1866, 
aged 55 : his wife, Jane Wield, and their infant son James, are 
included in the inscription. A neat stoi^e of similar shape 
commemorates Thomas HaU, sometime iimkeeper in the 
Coffee House High Street, died 5th February, 1865, aged 
64 ; and Samuel Penrose Eobarts, died 4th September, 1858, 
aged 41, who came from beyond the Border^ and was host of 
the King's Arms for a few years, finds here no unkindly 
resting-place, though not laid among kindred dust. 

Still proceeding in the same direction^ we notice a ta£tteful 
monument, with floriated pediment, commemorating two 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 399 

brothers^ respected members of the legal pi^fession, Eobert 
M'LeUou died leth April 1^64, aged 65> and John MOjeUan, 
died at Annan 1st February 1866, aged 54. 

Three or four monuments along the wall remind us of those 
that lend dignity and grace to the Southern Walk of the Old 
Ground^ one of them being to Douglas Cavan, a retired West 
India merchant, died at Nithbank 27th February 1852, aged 
74 ; another marks where lie two young children of James 
Dickson^ merchant, Ellen and Francis. A neat smaller stone 
bears upon its scrolled tablet the name of Joseph Turner, 
coffee planter in Ceylon, where he also acted as agent for 
Lord Elphinstone, his death taking place 20th July 1858, 
aged 42^ 

Another of the dignified and imposing edifices referred to 
bears the name of a much respected citizen, William Goldie; 
long the efiScient agent of the Commercial Bank, Dumfries. 
He died 20th March 1858, aged 67 ; it commemorates also 
Janet, his wife, and six of their children, most of whom with 
the adventurous spirit which characterises many of our 
youths, went to push their fortunes abroad : one of them, 
James, died at Madeira 24th February 1844^ aged 22 ; 
another, William, perished prematurely, drowned at the age 
of 20 when bathing by India's coral strand, 6th October 
1848 ; a thirds Captain Bobert <Toldie, died in the same 
distant region at Dapoolie 24th June, 1859, aged 34 ; a fourth, 
Alexander, found a grave at Pbrt Elizabeth, South Africa, 
where he died 12th May 1863, aged 31 ; a fifth, John, dying 
at Troqueer Holm in our own neighbourhood, 26th May, 1859, 
aged 32 : their iiames are preserved in the inscription, also 
that of a sister, Janet, who died in infancy. Mrs. Goldie, out- 
living them all, died at Mthmount, 10th May 1871, aged 76. 

In an adjoining enclosure there are two headstones, one 
bearing the name of William Martin, died at Koblehill 
Cottage, 14th April 1860, aged 66, the other the names of 
four youthful persons, Thomas Hairstens Martin, died 15th 
March 1852, aged 19 ; Archibald Douglas Martin, died at 
Manilla 23d July 1860, aged 22 ; his twin brother, James 
Hairstens Martin, died 20th March 1863, aged 25 ; also Jean 



400 IfEMOBIALS OF ST. KICHAEL's. 

Thorbum Martm, the young widow of Thomas B. BEender- 
fion, died 6th May, 1865, aged 24 ^ 

To the many gallant eoldiers cominemorated ini the Cfemei- 
tery Captain Joseph H. Butler hds to be added, a tabfet 
appearing to him at the comer of the' wall. He ^J^tis tte tliird 
B<«i of John Butler, of Kirby flouse, Berkshire, served i^ the 
49th Madras Native Infantry, and died at Kirkmahoe 23rd 
August, 1859, aged 40. 

THE WEST WALL. 

Two other military men, bpthi members of the distin- 
guished M'Murdo family, have their names preserved on an 
imposing edifice at the beginning of the west wall on the 
north. It is of Gothic design, the pediment displaying an 
heraldic escutcheon with the motto "Omnia pro bono.'* 
Bryce Baird M^Murdo, one of the deceased, after acting as 
Colonel of the 8th Foot Eegiment, spent his closing years at 
Mavis Grove, but as Colonel Commandant of the Dumfries- 
'shire Yeomanry still giving the district the benefit of his 
military skill and experience. He died 11th September 1838, 
aged 65. The other, John James M'Murdo, served for a while 
in India as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 45th Madras Native In- 
fiantry ; he officiated afterwards as Colonel Commandant of the 
Scottish Borderers, under whom that militia regiment began to 
acquire the high reputation, which has since been still further 
increased by his successor, Colonel Walker of Crawf ordton. 
The deceased officer departed this life at Mavis Grove 16th 
December, 1867, aged 63 ; a fall from his horse, which occurred 
about two years previously, being, it is believed, the proximate 
cause of his demise. 

Of a zealous rural missionary, whose delight it was to 
scatter the Gospel seed over a wide home-field, by highway or 
hillside, we find trace on a little headstone, humble and 
unpretentious like the good man it dommemorates^ The 
inscription upon it is in the following terms : 

" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. David M. Gillespie, son of the 
late Bev. John Gillespie, minister of Kells, who died in Dumfries 4th 
Oct., 1859, aged 72 years. A man of unblemished chjaracter and 
liberal theological education, well-known in Dumfriesshire and Gal- 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 401 

loway, where at various stations he for upwards of 20 years preached 
the Gospel/' 

Two other monuments, much more imposing, are met with 
as we proceed along the wall : one in memory of James 
Mitchell, Bankhead of Dalswinton, died 10th March 1859, 
aged 51 ; another, erected by Bobert M'Bumie, mason, to 
commemorate a young son and daughter, named respectively 
Charles Smith, aged 3, and Elizabeth, aged 2 : the stone also 
bears his own name, with the intimation that he died at 
Georgetown, 29th October 1866, aged 35. 

A neat little headstone stands near by in memory of 
Catherine Shiells, wife of James Stewart, governor of the 
Dumfries Prison, died 14th May 1863 ; also a small head- 
stone to commemorate James Forrester, for many years in 
the Ordnance department of Halifax, Nova Scotia, died at 
Kinghohn Cottage, 23d March 1859, aged 67 ; and another, 
erected by William Colquhoun, china merchant, in memory 
of his wife, Isabella Tedcastle, died 5th September 1866, 
aged 38, with two of their children, John, aged 3, and Jane, 
aged 6 ; further on is the burial ground of John Thomson, 
baker, where he lies with six of his children — Janet, Jane, 
Elizabeth, Margaret, William, and John — ^all of whom died 
young, the tasteful headstone over them bearing the follow- 
ing lines : 

** Dear is the spot where Christians sleep, 
And sweet the strains their spirits pour ; 
O why should we in anguish weep ! 
They are not dead, hut gone before." 

Other headstones commemorate the following : Anne, 
daughter of Richard Smith, Deacon of the Weavers, died 
13th February 1874, aged 82 ; William Corrie, Maxwelltown, 
died 10th January 1862, aged 76, with Annie Dinwiddie, his 
spouse ; Anne, aged 5, her infant twin sister, and another 
infant, children of David Anderson ; Sarah Johnstone, died 
17th December 1864, aged 58, with an infant granddaughter ; 
Jan'et Turner, gi'ocer, died 4th July 1866, aged 79. 

Near the entrance there is a very handsome monument 
erected over the family ground of Mr. William Craig, 
solicitor ; and next to it another not less graceful marks the 

Z 



402 MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 

property of another professional gentleman, Mr. John 
Symons, Both plots "are tenanted by youthful sleepers 
hushed to rest before being called upon to face the trials of 
maturer life. The first monument, designed by Mr. Baf bour, 
architect, displays a profusion of bold, rich, scroll work, in 
the Elizabethan style, with monogram, and commemorates 
"William Craig, died in infancy, Margaret Laurie, died 
when 15, and Jessie Susan, when fully a year older. On 
the pediment of the other structure is seen a seated figure 
with palm branch, representing Faith, and below it the 
names Elizabeth Symons, who died at the age of 4, and of 
James Symons, died at the age of 10. 

Faith as personified is the most suitable object that can be 
thought of for placing upon a tombstone. Campbell thus 
jipbstrophises Hope : 

** Daughter of Faith awake, arise, illume 
The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb." 

And Young, in his " Night Thoughts," says : 

" Faith builds a bridjj^ across the gulf of death, 
To break the shock blind Nature cannot shun, 
And }ands thought smoothly on the farther shore. 
Death's terror is the mounlain Faith removes. 
That mountain-barrier between man and peace ; 
'Tis Faith disarms destruction, and absolves 
From every clamorous charge the guilty tomb." 




THB INKER SECTIONS. 

JWO parallel sections stretching from west to east, having 
a road between them, and crossed by narrower pathways, 
occupy the field. Proceeding along the various walks 
we glance at the headstone memorials nearly two hundred in 
number, which rise up on every side, some of them very grace- 
ful, many neat, though with a sprinkling of others sufficiently 
plain. The grave plots along the walls already visited, are 
for the most part neatly kept, but the same cannot be 
said of the interior sections. In only a small minority 
of instances does the turf that covers the dwelling places 
of the dead appear to be tended with reverential care by 
surviving relatives, and, generally speaking, the footpaths 
which ought to be nicely gravelled, are encroached upon by 
weeds and grass. Signs of neglect are only too visible, a 
circumstance which is all the more to be regretted, seeing 
that as the ground is regularly bisected, it could easily be 
kept in good order, and no sufficient reason exists why it 
should not wear the aspect ot a beautiful necropolis. There 
is every likelihood, we understand, that a portion of the next 
surplus realised from the sale of layers will be applied by the 
Churchyard Managers towards this object ; and meanwhile 
private individuals who have acquired a proprietary interest 
in the ground, and have an interest in it besides that is due 
to higher considerations, might do much in the way of placing 
it, and keeping it, in an improved condition. 

The memorial stones of these inner sections tell of many 
great griefs in connection with tiny mounds whose innocent 
inmates have been torn away from the parental embrace. Of 
bitter tears shed, of keen anguish experienced, of fond hopes 
blighted, we can, when passing along, without the aid of 
fancy, find abundant trace ; but if the agony of bereaved 
fathers and mothers be peculiarly intense, the consciousness 
that what is their temporary loss is everlasting gain to the 
departed little ones supplies a well-spring of consolation that 



404 HBHORIAtS or ST. HICHASl's. 

can never nm dry of get ekhirasted. Tbe language of ibeir 
hearts^ even -^hen the diirk clon'dB of eorfow enisooipase -Uiem, 
can still be in keeping with the mibj^iBM address : 

Tho\i hast fled, little one, to a far-off land, 

Uif seen by mortal eye ; 
To its borders brovght by an angel band,. 
To take thy place *mong the saintly band 
Who arocmd the thrcme of snpphire stand, 
^ And glad hoeamnas cry. 

Dread Fear, imd sceptic Donbt say No ! 
And point to the pale cold day beloir. 

They need not point to the darksome tomb. 

His earthly lot to teU; 
Tis a spot to me cl dread and doom ; 
Tis a ravening golf of fearful gloom ; 
It h|M prisoned my flower of beauty and bloom 

The child I loved so well : 
And yet I can say with a voice of cheer, 
The son of my bosom sleeps not here. 

For the spirit ** that smiled in his swdet blue eye" 

Can never oblivion see : 
He has laid his clay-wroi:^ht raiment by, 
R>r richer robes oi a snow-white dye, 
And sought a home in tiie cloudless sky 

From dust and darkness free : 
This is the lot of my lovely child. 
The bod of my bosom so undeflled. 

Then speak no more of the grave's decay. 

As if my hopes were vain ; . 
And tell me not of the mouldering clay — 
I hi^ve wept above it in sore dismay. 
And been tempt'd in my bitterness to say, 

Would Gk)d 1 he misht still remain 
A little more in this low dim earth ! 
For my heart leapt so at hii voice of mirth. 

To think that the secret subtle ohain. 

Which held him captive here. 
And to my bosom, wae rent in twain. 
Never on earth to be linked again ! 
Could I a parent unmoved remain ? 

Yet still I say with cheer— 
Tbe earth to earth and the dust to dust, 
This is my confidence and trust, 
Hiat the spirit I cliumed in my f air-haired boy. 
Still lives to be mine in the realms of joy. 

Those of our readers "who have known what it ia to be as 
Bachel weeping for her children because they were not, will 
thank us perhaps for quoting a pregnant remark by the late 
Rev. Br. Fletcher, before proceeding further with our 



HElfOI^IAl'S.OF 6X. MlOHASL'a. 405 

obitiaajry record : " Has it. ne^er struck you," he says, " th« 
jglorious change which is effected upon; the mjiud o| au infant, 
the moment its disembodied spirit is admitted am^g the 
holy and intelligent citizens of the New Jerusalem ? I have 
often thought of it with surprise and delight. In one instant 
there is a greater influx, a greater communication of light 
into its glorified undersi;anding tihan all the accumulated 
light which glowed with splendour for many yejars in the 
mind of the greatest philosopher who has ad4ed lustre 
to his country, to his species, to the world. All, the expe- 
rienced Christians and divines, whom that dear babe has left 
behind it, are as much behind it in the degree of their 
knowledge, and in the enlargement of their capacity as they 
are behind it in place^ Heaven doeis not exceed this world 
more in its grandeur and glory than this glorified infant does 
the greatest, the wisest, and the best of human beings living 
in this vale of tears." 

" Of such is the kingdom of Heaven ;" John ; Boyd, an 
infant, and Eobert, aged 3 years, sons of John Kfrkpatrick ; 
Isabella Brown, aiged 4, daughter of Peter Murphie, flesher ; 
Isabella^ an infant, and William, aged 3, children bf Edward 
Kerr, flesher; Sarah Louise,' aged 4, daughter of Eobert 
Smith; Janet and Mary Douglas, infant children, whose 
parents are not named ; J<ohn, aged 4, son of John Brown, 
engine-driver ; Charles John, aged 4, son of John Thurrot, 
Ladyfield ; Jessie Ann Swan, aged 3, daughter of James 
Beck, Bush of Craigs ; Margaret, aged 3, daughter of William 
Millar, coachbuilder ; Mary, aged 11, with three' infants, the 
offspring of William Keid ; Donald, aged 2, son of John 
Mitchell, baker, Annan ; Isabella, infant daughter of William 
M'George ; Robert, aged 4, son of John Hannah, gardener ; 
Joseph and John, each 3 yeai« old, children of Joseph 
Wallace, watchmaker; George Dickson and Janet Alice, 
infants, and Mary Janet, her twin sister, ageid 4, issue of 
George Bae ; Jessie Hibbs, aged 10, and her infant twiu sister, 
Bachel ; James, infant son of Alexander M'Leod, formeiiy 
spirit-merchant ; Christina, infant daughter of John Cradock, 
fiesher ; William Crosbie, infant son of Eobert Hamilton, 



406 MXXOBiALs or ST. migbael's. 

Caatlebank ; Isabella Soott, infant, and Bobert Crozier, aged 
3, children of John Dobson, Kingholm Quay ; Janet, infant 
daughter of John H. Kirkpatrick ; Annie Callander, an 
infant, and her sister Graoe, 4 years old ; Catherine 
Aitken, an infant, Thomas, aged 2, Elizabeth Aitkin, 4, and 
Andrew Aitkin, age not stated, children of James Boyes, 
restaurant-keeper, and formerly boatswain of the Qreat 
EoLSUm; John, aged 10, who "fell asleep in Jesus," son of 
John Davidson ; Margaret Annie, died ^ in her second year," 
daughter of John Dickson, jeweller ; Thomas Symington, an 
infant, and Margaret, nearly 2 years old, childr^a of Thomas 
Symington Macaulay, Nithsdale Mills ; Jessie Crocket, aged 
2, Mary Niven, 1, Bobert Niyen, 1, Mary Niven, an infant, 
Bobert, 2, children of Bobert Niven M'Kie, clothier ; Mary 
Swan, aged 2, daughter of John Thompson, Georgetown ; 
John Walker Dalziel, an infant, Caroline Cass^ulria M^eigh 
Dalziel, aged 3, Jane Dalziel, aged 9, and Jeanie, age not 
given, daughter of John Walker, boot and shoe maker ; John 
M., an infant, and Bella R, aged 7, children of John Scott, 
engineer, Kingholm Mills; Thomas Albert, infant son of 
John P. Sloan ; and Frank Stanley, Mass., an infant, to whose 
memory a pretty little cruciform structure is devoted. 

Boys and girls of maturer age are also here interred, some 
of them side by side with young children of the same family 
circle; Janet, aged 13 years, daughter of Charles Lennon, 
Eastfield Cottage ; William Lewis, aged 14, with his infant 
brother Walter ; William, aged 13, son of James M'Callum, 
engine-driver ; Janet, aged 16, daughter of Alexander Kirk- 
patrick ; Margaret, aged 17, daughter of William Shannon ; 
James, aged 2^ Mather 5, David 17, sons of James Boyd ; 
Bichard Allen, his brothers Bobert and William, each aged 2, 
a second William who had avfew months longer term of life, 
with two other members of the household, Jessie aged 7, 
and James, cut off at 18 when on the verge of manhood. 

Of other young persons older than the oldest of the fore- 
going we also find memorials — one of them recording the 
loss at sea near Cape Horn, of James, son of William 
Hastings, Nithbank, 12th June 1869, aged 19, Ins sister 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 407 

Maryann died when under 2 years^ being also named in the 
record ; on a neat headstone in a well kept compartment we 
read of Albert, " the beloved son of James Gloag, saddler, 
who fell asleep in Jesus 7th August 1873, aged 24" also 
James B. Anderson, another son, who died in infancy. 

Since the Education Society of Dumfries and Maxwelltown 
was formed nearly thirty years ago, it has been the means of 
rescuing hundreds of little wandering children from a career 
of ignorance, want, and probable infamy ; and the Society, 
while tenderly caring for them in life, provides a resting 
place in the grave for such of them as die when still young. 
Twelve of these poor little boys and girls no longer needing 
help nor yet pity, lie buined in company beside a tasteful 
monument whose tablets tell their names and ages — the roll 
extending from 1864 till 1875. 

Numerous wedded pairs, with or without their oifspring, 
and in some instances whole households lie here interred : 
Henry Boyd, mason, Trohoughton, died 3d June 1857, aged 
53, Maiy Wilson, his spouse, with their infant daughter, 
the monument to them recording also the fate of their son 
John, who died in South Africa, 19th March 1861, aged 33 ; 
Matthew Foster, Kingholm Mills, died at Galashields, 23d 
November, 1873, aged 73, with Sarah Low, his wife ; 
Louis, son of John Foster, aged 3, and Sarah Louise, 
daughter of Bobert Smith, aged 4 ; James Gibson, coach- 
builder, died 15th June 1860, aged 26, with Isabella 
Williamson, his wife, and their daughter Janet, aged 7 ; 
John Laurie, who kept the Grey Horse Tavern, Friars* 
Yennel, which before its removal included part of the old 
Greyfriars' Monastery, died 31st March 1858, aged 78, with 
Elizabeth Waugh, his spouse ; William M'Kenzie died 4th 
February 1859, aged 28, with Euphemia Campbell, his wife, 
and three of their infant progeny ; James M'Kenzie, died 
14th May 1873, aged 51, with his "beloved wife," Isabella 
Baillie ; John Turner died in April 1847, s^ged 56, with Mary 
Canning, his spouse, their son William, died in India, 1853, 
aged 37, another son, John, died 18th June, 1872, aged 33, 
their daughter, Emma, wife of Bobert Nicholson, mason. 



408 SdEMOBIALG OF ST. HICOASL'S. 

died 7th June, 1863> a^d 3i; and their granddaughter Jane 
Hannaj Nelsham; Bobert Kerr^ died- 6th August 1871, 
Aged Q4> with Jauet M^KeUr> his wife, aUd their dimghiery 
Bai-bara, aged 10; David Blaylock, died 25th July 1867, 
aged 75, with Margaret Wilsou, his spouse, their son cFaines, 
died at 10, aqd daughter Helen Armstrong, died 8th March, 
1869^ aged 36 : Mr. Blaylock, though commemorated on a 
family, stone in the north section, lies in th^ Old Ground ; he 
will he remembered by many as a decent intelligent mhn, 
who was for a lengthened period precentor and la;tter]y 
beadle in Bucoleuoh Street United Presbyterian Church. 

Johi^ Baleigh, Bailway employ^, died 2d January 1671, 
aged 72, with Mary Wilson Herrilies, his spouse ; John' Ander- 
aon died at Locharbriggay 11th August 1673, aged 25, with 
J^e Murray, his wife, and their infant. child ; John Pauli&g 
died dth Decen^ber 1664, aged 64, with Isabella M^Adam, his 
wife; Thomas Harkness, died 20th April 1853, aged 69, ^^a 
sincere Christian and an honesit man, and much respeeted by 
all who knew him," Mary Young, his wife, and their aon, 
Thomas, died at Buenos Ayres, 20th May 1663, aged 44 ; 
Thomaa Clark, died at Bamsay Place, 10th February 1864, 
aged 39, with Jane Dargavel, bis wife; Francis Trainer, 
died 19th May 1670, aged 33, with Agnes Wilson, his wife, 
and their son, William John, aged 3 ; Herbertson MfLellan, 
died 20th April 1870, aged 55, with Isabella Hamilton, his 
wife, and their childi^en, Isabella aged 13, Margaret 19, and 
James 24; John Wainwright, died in March 1850, aged 56, 
" a just and good man," with Jane Corscm, his wife, and their 
son John, died at Preston, aged 19 ; Alexander Hume, mason, 
died 19th March 1876, aged 45, with Agnes Matheson, his 
wife; Alexander Shaw, confectioner, died 19th July, 1875, 
a^ed 63, with his wife Elizabeth Weir, their children Barbara, 
aged 5, and other four, all of whom when in the fair noon of 
life were swept away by consumption within a period of 
little more than nine months, Catherine dying 6th April 1870, 
aged 33, Elizabeth Weir, 26th May 1870, aged also 33, Mary, 
17th November 1870, aged 28, and William, 10th January 1871, 
aged 23 ; Andrew M'Conochie, mariner, died 25th June 1869, 



HSM0EZAL6 OF 8T. MXCOABL's. 409 

aged 67, with Janet Johnston, his spouse, and th^nr bfirspring 
Isa>bella an infant^ Annie WalliU^, aged 23, Ba vid, aged 33, and 
John, died in St. Petersbarg,Va., 27th June, 1862, aged 32 ; the 
neat headstone -which commemorates this family being neigh- 
boured by one of similar shape devdted to Agnei^, another 
daughter of > Aiidrew M*Coliochiej and wife of Andrew Biird, 
schjoobnaBter, with two of their infaxit children, Andrew and 
Mavgaret : Mrs; Baird died 4th January 18t0, aged 36. 

Eronting the east walk stands a handsome headstone, on 
the scrolled panel of which appears the name of* Robert HT. 
Coltaift^ a highly respected painter and glaeidr, and Who as a 
member of the Town Council took a creditable part in the man- 
agement cjf Burgh affairi^ He was brother of thr. W. Coltart, 
whose monument oh the south wall has ali^eady been described. 
Mr. Cdltart died 22d February 1867, aged 54. Befeide him 
lie his wife, Eliiabeth H. Sdiiderson, a native of Mar^-le- 
bone, London, and two of their infant children. An adjacent 
st6ne commemorates James Brown^ compositor, died I7th 
October 1855, aged 30, and John Smith, merchant, died 
26th January 1867, aged 36, both of them brothers-in-kw to 
|l^ atd W. Coltart, also two of Mr. Brown's youthful children. 
Eastwarda little lies another house painter,WilliamM'Keachie, 
who was besides a local artist, of no mean repute, and a worthy 
man : he died 16th March, 1863, aged 42, his neat headstone 
bearing in remembrance ^so his wife Jane Hutton and their 
children, Agnes aged 3, Andrew 4, and Jessie 16. 

Barely are we reminded in the New Ground of Old Dum- 
fries, as it flourished when the Seven Trades together with 
the Merchants bore sway over the Burgh ; but the headstone 
of Thomas Irving, a respected Crispinite, which rises in the 
south section, tells of the time when the Crafts were yet in all 
their glory. He died 3d February 1865, aged 74 ; the stone 
also commemorates his wife, Sarah M'Lellan, sister of George, 
James, and Bobert M^Lellan, whose names appear on bther 
monuments in the Cemetery, died 5th November 1804, at the 
advanced age of 80 ; Margaret, their daughter, died 10th 
June 1844, aged 25 ; and John, their son, died at Edinburgh, 
22d September 1862, aged 46. As shown in a preceding 



410 MSMOBIAU OF ST. MICHAKL's. 

chapter, the boot and shoe trade, for which Damf riea has long 
been noted, has usoaliy nombered many Irvings among its 
members ; and at present the cordwainerB of the Modern 
Athens include two of the name George and James, each at 
the head of a thriving esitablidunent, and both sons of 
Thomas Irving. 

To James Caraon, a worthy master mariner, his wife 
Elspeth Cowan, and five of their of&pring, a neat memorial 
stone is devoted ; but the children lie scattered far away from 
the quiet haven of St. Michael's ; James died at Liverpool, aged 
3, Bobert at Nova Scotia, aged 22, John in Calcutta, at the 
same age, and James in Baltimore, aged 21 : an infant child 
William is included in the inscription; also a grown-up 
daughter, Mary Brown, wife of Thomas Graham, cabinet 
maker, died 14th May 1863, aged 33^ with their infant child, 
Elizabeth Ann, a granddaughter of Captain Carson. 

Monuments of wives, some of them also mothers, appear as 
follows : Mary Biddick, wife of James Boyd, Wellgreen, 
died 3d March 1860, aged 56, with Catherine, her daughter, 
aged 25 ; Janet Gillespie, wife of the late John Johnston, 
died 30th July 1861, aged 64, with her grandduld Thomas F. 
Smith, infant son of John Johnston, perfumer; Catherine 
Hyslop. wife of William M^Bumie, died 1st September 
1862, aged 52, with Ann, their daughter, wife of Peter Grordon, 
died 31st May 1863, aged 31 ; Janet Morrison, wife of William 
Wilson, died at Shawfield, 27th January 1870, aged 74 ; Janet 
Kevand, wife of Daniel Morrison, died 28th May 1869, aged 
53 ; Jane Carlyle, wife of David Dickson, mason, Gasstown, 
died 3d September, 1875, aged 49 ; Elizabeth Grierson, wife 
of William Johnston, died at Craig-Math, Dalbeattie, 8th 
November, 1871, aged 22 ; Lorilla Wilkin, a native of the 
United States, wife of James Wilkin, late of Kirkblain, died 
20th October, 1870, aged 58 ; Isabella M'Culloch, wife oi 
William M^George, died 3d September, 1871, aged 24 ; Mary 
Hawthorn, died 1 1th Januaiy, 1858, aged 68, with two infant 
children of her son John McQueen, watchmaker ; Maiy 
Thomson, relict of Bobert Beattie, builder, died 11th May 
1872, aged 81 ; Nicholas Kerr, wife of John Douglas, gar^ 



MEMORIALS (XF ST« MICHASL's^- 411 

dener, Laurelmount^ died 26th October, 1872, aged 38^ 
Hannah Grosbie, wife of James M'lntpeh, died 7th October, 
1863, aged 38, with Wilhehaina, their daughter; Jane 
Sawyers, wife of Josiah Ferguson, died 21st November, 1861 ^ 
aged 26, the moniiment in this case being a granite one, cross^ 
surmounted ; Elizabeth Pagan, wife of John Coupland, shoe- 
maker, died 14th July 1874, aged 34, with J<^in, their infant 
son ; Mary McCartney, wife of Samuel Morell, died 30th 
January 1864, aged 59 ; Mary Halliday, wife of Andrew 
Wright, died at Place of Ora^gs, 2d January 1870, aged 53, 
with John M'Dougall, their grandson, aged 3 ; Jane Hope, 
widow of Greorge Carruthers, clockmaker, Langholm, died 
30th September 1867, aged 68 ; Harriet McMillan, wife of 
Charles M'Gowan, died at Lochvale, 20th December 1867, 
aged 32, with William, their son, aged 7 ; Mary Pennycook, 
wife of Thomas Shade, died 15th August 1874, aged 33, with 
their children, Elizabeth Whatmore ^aged 3, Thomas aged 6, 
and Balph cut off in infancy ; Catherine Eenwick, died at 
Noblehill, 3d November 1875, aged 44, wife of James 
Harding, engine-driver, with their children Catherine, aged 
12, and a second Catherine, aged 3 ; Isabella Kennedy, wife 
of James Bull, carrier, died 27th March 1866, aged 57 ; Ann 
Slack, "the beloved wife" of John Armstrong, currier, 
died dth July 1867, aged 47, with William and Jessie, 
their infant offspring ; Margaret M'Murray Newall, wife 
of Daniel Eichardson, died at Noblehill, 10th September 
1871, aged 34, with Annie, their infant child; Margaret 
Glendinning, wife of Thomas Smith, coach painter, died 7th 
March 1871, aged 42, with John, their infant child ; Jane 
Dunbar Clark, wife of the worthy parochial inspector of Dum* 
fries, John Dinwoodie, died 27th October 1862, aged 50, with 
their son William, aged 3 ; Mary Ann Smith, wife of William 
Beattie, died 10th May 1873, aged 33 ; Janet Paterson, " the 
affectionate wife " of Thomas Haiuing, died at Glencaple, 20th 
June 1870, aged 34 ; Catherine Graham, who will be remem-^ 
bered by many visitors at the Crichton Institution as the 
kindly and intelligent wife of the former head gardener John 
Ferguason : her death took place 14th August 1870, aged 67r 



412 u&KOMuas or vs. ujcfkAXh*^ 

Memoriala atl^oond ia these uumf seclioiui whkh (reoal 
Bkir's oieotiisg pletYune ^--r 

^ Th# new 'PBade wid^w too, Fve fprnetimes med,- 
Sad flight ! tlow moving o'er the prostrate dead ; 
laiOtsB she crawls tAoii'g in doleful black, 
While bossts of soirpw gush from eithef 070 
Fast f alliiu; from her now untasted cheek. 
Prone on tne lonelv grave of the dear man ' 
Bhe drops ; while busy meddling memory • 

' In barbarous succession musters up 
llie past endearments of theii* softer hours 
Tenaoiovui of the theuML" • --^ 

Tbe-list of hiiabands deoeaeed, together iHth, in mtakj 
inertaiieesy th«ir defiarted ishildren, 6oinpriBe8 the following : 
Joseph Bdgar, masoo, 'who k commemoi^ted by a &eat moim^ 
ment near the entrance, died Slst'May 167d^ aged 42, widi 
Bobert^ hid infant son ; James Davidson, long a head attendant 
in the Oiohtou Institation, bom at Carmyle, Fcrfarahin&i 
died at Chevrytrees 9th July I87O, aged 49, Alfred Biohard, 
his adopted son, aged 2 years, being also named in the' in- 
/Bcription ; Beuben Webster^ cabinet maker, Eastiield, died 19th 
February 1871, aged 37, with his daughter Beubena G^ertmde, 
aged 3, and his nephew Fe^inand Schonbez^g, died in infa^ey ; 
Alexander Bremner^ died 22d July 1854, aged 30, and two 
infant children — ^the stone erected by the widowed mother, 
Ann Edgar ; James Adam, carver and gilder, died in Edin- 
burgh 18th December 1848, aged 27 — the monument ere<3ted 
by his widow '* Mrs, Jemima Mason or Adam,'' and commemo- 
rating also their son, James Alexander Hannay, aged 3, and an 
infant daughter ; Bobert Bobinson, died 13th November 1869, 
Aged 27, vdth two youthful children — ^the stone erectec\ by 
their mother, Mary Clark ; Bobert Kirkpa/trick, framesmith, 
died 13th February, 1866, aged 61, with his ofifepring, Thomas, 
died at 16, two infants, and another infant^ daughter of his 
son James Kirkpatrick ; William Copland, carter, died 9th 
April 1867, aged 62, with Catherine, his daughter, died at 
29 ; Bobert M*Cririe, tailor, died 30th March 1856, aged 86, 
with Elizabeth, his daughter, died at 24 ; Andrew Lockerbie, 
died 26th December 1866, aged 59, with Agnes, his daughter, 
died at 1 2 ; James Affleck, Caim of Craigs, died at Craigs Lodge, 
7th September, 1874, aged 75, with his children James, aged 22, 



and Eliisftbeth died in inhxkoy ; Jblin Dalling, engine driver, 
died at Greenbrae, 11th April 1871, aged' 38, with two of hi& 
infant offspring ; James Tcrwnsend, shoemfaker, died 2l3th 
October l67l, aged 47, with Margaret Kay, hia mother-in- 
law, died 11th' September 1871, aged 68 ; George Craik, 
died 24th February, 1874, aged 3^, with Barbara, his 
daughter, aged 6; James Fisher, carrier, died 28th September 
1861, aged 50, with Mary Ann, his daughter, aged 9 ; Samuel 
Nod well, died 25th October 1868, aged 58, the monument hav- 
iog.been ei^eeted by his son James Nodwelly spirit merchanty 
whi(Mie daughter Margaret, aged 4, is also named in, the inscrip-' 
tioo ; Charles Forrest, died 29th January 18^71, aged 70, with 
his son Charles, died at Ayr^ aged 30 ; Doiiald Oroebie^ 
mason, died 9th January 1855, .with no fewer than eight 
.children, though he died at the early age of 39, these con- 
sisting of six infants, Eobert, who lived to be 20,' and John 
to be 28 ; Thomas Anderson, some time draper, afterwards 
iiuctiioneer, died =5th Mar^ 1871> aged 33, with his son 
Thomas, aged 2. 

The prevailing prose literature of the New Ground is re- 
lieved occasionally by poetical epitaphs, as follow : 

Simon Graham Slater, .mei^chantf who died 7th August 
1869, aged 32, is repressnted as saying to his children : 

"' Ob here I'm still, my children deiur, 
'When you mv tomb Dass bj, 
Think on that dark ana lilent grave, 
Where shortly you must lie," 

The subjoined verse from a well-known hymn is quoted on 
a headstone which commemorates John Preston : 

" The hour of my departure's come, 
I hear the voice that calls me home. 
At last O Lord ! let trouble cease. 
And let thy servant die in x>eace.*' 

Mr. Preston died 26th May 1872, aged 43. 

Comforting assurance is expressed on a neat headstone 
raised over Christian, eldest daughter of H. Hughs, butler — 
*'A lily gathered at Newton, Kirkpotriok-Fleming, 16th 
May 1870": 



414 MBllOftlALB OF 8T. MICHAEL'S. 

**DMd? Ohno, slMunoedead, 

But flleepug for a leason here, 

Till fairer sun a better world shall gild. 

Then raaaomed from the grave shiul spring my chfld." 

An address of waxiiing rather than of consolation, appears 
on a simUar stone, tributary to Jemima, the child daughter of 
James Templeton, and to William his son, the latter of whom 
died Sad October 1872, aged 18. 

" Death little warning to me gave, 
Bvt qniokly called me to my grave ; 
O haste to Christ, make no delay, 
For no one knows his djring day.** 

Id October 1874, Walter Eliot, a young man belonging to one 
of the travelling shows by which the Bood Fair of that year 
was attended sickened and died, and having been buried in 
the Cemetery, a neat tombstone was erected by "George 
Biddall, showman," to mark the spot, and which bears the 
subjoined appeal : 

** Traveller as you pass by. 

As you are now, so once was I ! 
As I am now so you must be, 
Prei>are in time to follow me.^* 

To this verse Mr. Biddall has added a well-turned compli- 
ment to the youthful sleeper : 

** From pain and care he has come to rest, 
B«gretted most by those who knew him best.** 

A memorial erected by William Thomson, of the Crichton 
Institution, '^in remembrance of his beloved wife," Mary 
Ann Dalby, died at Cherrytrees, 15th December 1869, aged 
44, bears below her name the following stanza : 

** Freed from a life of trial here, 
Now peaceful is her rest. 
Her soul enjoys a purer sphere, 
Bejoidng with the blest.'* 

Two of their children are also mentioned in the inscription, 
Margaret Ann, aged 3, and Bella Jane, died in infancy. 

To the memory of Ann Mann, " the beloved wife*' of Alex- 
ander Brown, mason, died 15th October 1870, aged 66, another 
headstone is devoted, which bears the following stanza : 

" No more to sigh, no more to weep, 
The faithful dead in Jesus sleep ; 
Unfading let their memory bloom 
Where rest their bodies in the tomb.** 



HEMORULS OF ST. KICHAJBL's. 415 

On the pedestal of a neighbouring stone, a figure is seen 
like "Niobe all tears," as if weeping for the " loved and lost'' 
who are named below : John Gumming, carpenter, died at 
Shenley Hill, Herts, 18th September 1854, aged 35 ; Douglas 
Macqueen Gumming, law clerk, his son, died at Dumfries, 
12th April 1873, aged 22 ; with Marion, Robert, and John, 
who were cut ofif in childhood. But lines are added for the 
consolation of the mourner : 

" Mourn not for those whom God has blest, 
And t^en to their heavenly rest ; 
Freed from all sorrow, grief, and pain, 
Our loss is their eternal gain." 

" I am weary of my crying, my throat is dried ; mine eyes 

fail while I wait for my God." This plaint of the Royal 

Psalmist appears on a stone commemorating John Alexander, 

bom in Moffat, aged 6, the son of Francis Lauder. 

By a railway collision, at Dalbeattie, 20th June, 1874, 
Thomas Gunyon, engine driver, a steady, respectable man, 
was so severely injured that he died the third day afterwards, 
aged 36, and was buried in the New Ground. The monimient 
to his memory represents him as saying, 

" Grieve not for me, my sonl has run, 
The Lord has* called. His will be done. 
When Christ appears I shall arise, 
Unto that life that never dies.'* 

On other monuments we find the f ollo'wing names : George 
Dickie, aged 27, died 27th July, 1862^ aged 44 ; James 
Aiken, died 8th July 1863, aged 47; Janet, daughter of 
Andrew Sturgeon, Preston Mill, Kirkbean, died 11th May 
1860, aged 60, Agnes, another daughter, died in Maxwell- 
town, 17th February 1873, aged 74, and John Williamson, a 
youth of 16, son of William Sturgeon, Dumfries ; John 
Jardine Stewart, Kingholm Quay, died 21st June 1871, 
aged 40 ; Gilbert Maxwell, died 1st September 1873, aged 78 ; 
Matilda Grierson, died 28th March 1874, aged 35 ; Margaret 
Broadfoot, daughter of William Raphels, aged 20, with Mary 
Margaret Clark, his infant granddaughter ; Thomas Steven- 
son, clerk, diad 2d May 1870, aged 26, and Mary Stevenson, 
died in infancy ; Robert Boe, moulder, died 6th March, 1869, 
aged 46 ; William Wield, Kingholm Quay, died 6th Septem- 



416 XSKORUIiS OF ST. XICHAEL's. 

ber 1871| aged 72, with David, grandson of John McLean, 
mariner, aged 4 ; Janet, infant daughter of David M'Lean, 
mariner ; John Tait, merchant, died 3l8t Julj 1869, aged 29 ; 
Agnes Tait, died 12th June 1870, aged 31 ; and Agnes, infant 
child of Joseph Gracie ; Thomas Halliday, died 4th August 
1857, aged 57 ; Agnes Lawson, died 2d June 1871, aged 
62, and Eliza Lawson, died 2d February 1873, aged 71 ; 
Archibald Carson, died 2d February 1872, aged 77 ; James 
Armstrong, Bigghead, died 30th April 1872, aged 57 ; Greorge 
M'Culloch, died 9th April 1872, aged 36, the monument to 
him having been erected by his brothers'' J. and P. M'Culloch ;" 
Alexander Murphie, baker, died 17th April 1868, aged 24 ; 
William Yickers, died 7th December 1872, aged 23 ; Margaret 
Gillespie, died at Hightown of Craigs, 22d September 1872, 
aged 21 : James Ck>ok, watchmaker, died 2d January 1874, aged 
62 ; Peter Coulter, died at Maryfield, 19th November 1873, 
aged 41 ; Nevin M'Holme, died at Maryholm, 20th November 
1873, aged 63 ; Mary Williamson, died 8th February 1860, 
aged 70 ; Ellen Low, died 2d February 1876, aged 66 ; 
George Irving, died at Gasstown 1st March 1875, aged 72 ; 
James Moffat, died 18th March 1863, aged 71 ; Janet Moffat, 
died 4th August 1853, aged 55 ; John Murray, of Working- 
ton, saddler, died 6th November 1854, aged 41 ; Bobert 
M'Lean, Greorgetown of Craigs, died 24th October 1867, aged 
47 ; William Koberts, died 5th January 1873, aged 35 ; 
Peter Dow, parochial schoolmaster, Lochmaben, died Ist 
Jime 1859, aged 41 ; William Tait, formerly of Milligan 
and Tait's hosiery establishment, died 7th February 1859, 
aged 54 ; William, son of ''Joseph Bates, Esq., of Springhall,'' 
Halifax,'' died at Greystone Cottage, 10th September 1867, 
age not recorded ; John Dobie, mason, died 2d February 
1867, aged 34, with Agnes Walker, died 29th May, 1869, aged 
19 ; James Pringle, died 9th December 1871, aged 45 ; 
James Hamilton, died at Castledykes Ist May 1872, aged 33 ; 
Thomas Wilson, tanner, died 17th April 1870, aged 54; 
James Smith, died 25th September 1867, aged 37 ; Thomas 
W. King died 12th June 1872, aged 44, the memorial in this 
case being a neat miniature pyramid. 



MEMORIALS Oi' ST. MICflAEii^S.' 4l7' 

ft 

"Waiting for the archangefs call lies William Inman, "^ho ' 
for twenty years was bugler to tli6 ' Scottish Bordet-ers 
Militia, a:nd died inthecamp at KingKolm, iSth Junfe 1874, 
aged 43. Other soldifers encamped hot fair otf will rise at the 
sound of the same irresistible siimhlons : John Davidson, of 
the 94th Eegiment, in compan}^ witK "his beloved "wife" 
Jane Bell, his death occuiiing l3th" October 1866, atged 62 ; 
Sergeant John Baxter, of the 75th Begiment, di^d 31st 
October' 1874, aged 76, a child of 7 years,' Isaibella Murdoch, 
being billeted beside him;' George Gaven, of the 56th or 
Cameronian Begiment, died iii *J^Ovember 1852, aged 57 ; Ser^ 
geant Thomas Crichton, Who died 18th July 1868, aged b6, the 
neat stone commemorating the latter having been erectbd by 
his widow, Agnes Carter. ' ' ' 

Among the memorials in this portion of the Cemeteiy 
appear four, all tastefully executed, raised as special tributes 
from sorrowing survivors : one of them' bears the name 
of Nicol Macintyre, examining bfficer of 'Her Majesty's 
Customs, died 14th April 1874, aged 42 ; another " erected 
by his fellow- workmen in affectionate remembrance of 
Joseph An till, of MountsorreV died' '28th January 1873, 
aged 21 . Another set up by ** a few friends " in memory of ' 
James M'Keachie, died 21st March 1870, aged' 34, the name 
of his daughter Agnes, aged 5, being included in the inscrip- 
tion; the fourth "erected by the officers, attendants, and 
servants of the Crichton Institution, in memory of Ahne 
Nabnae,*' died 21st January 1868, aged' 19. 

Near the centre of the ground rises its most elaborate 

monumental edifice to commemorate Thomas Kenniedy, 

Prbvost of Dumfries. It is in the Eleanor style, which bor-" 

rows its characteristics from the beautiful Gothic crosses 

which King Edward, 1st of Eh^Iaiid, set up at all the places " 

where the body of his consort Queen Eleanor rested when on 

its way from Herdeby in Nottinghamshire to its tomb in 

Westminster Abbey. The design Was supplied by Mr. John 

Starforth, Edinburgh, architect of two notable buildings in 

Dumfries, Greyfriars' Church, and the New Infirmary ; and 

with its pointed arches and spirelets it resembles to some 

a2 



418 MEKORIALfi or ST. )fK9SABL*J». 

extent the upper part of the Wahham Cross, the nehest 6f 
all the royal memorials that bear the name of £leaBor. 
Below, a canopy, formed by a janction of four arches, is seen 
an nm, not of the classical pattern but mediaeval, so as to 
harmonise with the general plan of the structure ; and 
beneath there are tablets, four in number, one on the W€st 
side being thus inscribed : '^ Thomas Kennedy, of Niliibank, 
nursery and seedsman. Provost of Dumfries from November 
1846 to 1849 : bom 2d September 1792 ; died 22d January 
1867. Jean Pringle, his wife, bom 26th November, 1792." 
On the north side appear the names of two children, sons of 
Alexander Tweedie Newbigging, and of Helen Kennedy 
(daughter of the Provost) ; " Thomas Kennedy Newbigging, 
bom 23d August 1842, died 15th January 1847 ; Bobert 
Newbigging, born 21st May, died 8th June 1847." 

By dint of thrift, industry, and perseverance, Mr Kennedy 
converted a small business in the seed line, left him by his 
father, into one of the most prosperous concerns of its kind 
in the South of Scotland. Around the suburbs of Dumfries 
may be seen traces of his enterprise in the ninety acres or so 
of nursery ground into which his business has developed 
imder its present proprietors, Messrs. Alexander T. New- 
bigging and Bobert Cowan. As a token of the general 
respect entertained towards Mr. Kennedy, he was elected a 
member of the first reformed Town Council ; and as a further 
indication of the same feeling, he was chosen chief magistrate 
in 1846. It was during his tenure of office that the Water 
Scheme, our greatest sanitary acquisition, first took a practical 
shape. During his latter years, when retired from more 
active pursuits, he tenanted a farm in Lochar Moss, where he 
gratified his love of rural life and his taste as an agricultural 
improver, by rendering waste acres almost as roseate and 
productive as the many fields which at an earlier period he 
had transformed into garden-land, or enriched \?ith rare 
shrubs and flowers. 

A handsome monument in the Italian style, designed by 
Mr. Starforth, marks the spot where rest James Martin, 
farrier, hi wife, and two of their sons. Mr. Martin, father 



1IBM0RIAL6 OF 817. UJXMAXiVs, 419 

of our es^cejilent Town Clerk/wasiaii intjelligent, weU^informed 
ma^: be died 11th Febiiiaij 1847, aged 58 yeaxs. His 
estimable widow, survived bim tweilty-uine years, her death 
occurring 22d August 1876* When full of promise their first- 
born son, James, was unfortunately drowned in the Nith while 
bathing, 16th August 1832, at the early age of 17. His name 
upon the inscription is followed by that of his brother, Eobert 
Martin, solicitor, who died 15th May 1873, aged 42 : accom* 
pUshed ai^d amiable, he was a general favourite. 

As we have already seen, several members of the Knockr 
gray family lie buried in the Old Ground, among others Lieu- 
tenant-General Sir Alexander Clark Kennedy, aud it is in 
the New Ground that the memento of his eldest son, John, 
next falls to be noticed. Bom at Dumfries, the deceased 
gentleman entered the army at an early age, went through 
some hard service in China and the Punjaub when still quite 
a youth, and during his meridian strength won laurels and 
lost blood whilst leading Eyre's Brigade in the Crimean War. 
We find him next officiating as Quarter-Master General of 
Aldershot Camp, then obtaining a colonelcy in 1858, and 
afterwards made Colonel Commandant of the Military 
Train, an office- demanding engineering skill and power of 
.physical endurance not less than moral bravery, which re 
quisites he in an eminent degree possessed. When the 
memorable seizure of the Trent brought Britain and the 
United States to the brink of a deadly quarrel, he was ap- 
pointed to superintend the defences of Canada. Peace having 
been reassured. Colonel Kennedy, with a laudable ambition, 
wished to add senatorial honours to those he had won in the 
tented field ; and about the only time he experienced signal 
defeat anywhere, was when contesting the Dumfries Burghs 
with the late Mr. William Ewart in 1865. His candidature 
was conducted with characteristic courage and ability^ even 
his keenest opponents being ready to acknowledge the cour- 
tesy, good humour, and manliness which were displayed by 
him throughout the contest. Outvoted but not crestfallen, he 
in the hour of defeat announced his resolution to break another 
spear for the membership of the Burghs whenever a prope 



420 lasKORiALS OF ST. kichael's. 

oppoiiunity should arise. The opening which he looked 
for never came. There was no more electoral campugning in 
store for him. After the lapse of other two years, the War 
Office authorities wanted an officer to take charge of the 
Transport Service required for their Abyssinian Expedition. 
For this exactive piece of service they selected Colonel 
Keunedy, thus paying a high tribute to his talents, though, 
as it unhappily turned out, the onerous commission given to 
him was fraught with a fatal issue. Even his robust con- 
stitution could not bear up against the excessive labour, 
mental and bodily, which devolved upon him in an unhealthy 
climate ; and prostrated with fatigue and sickness, he died at 
Alexandria, in Egypt, the expedition thus losing one of its 
leading supports, society a bright ornament, and Scotland 
one of her bravest sons. 

HiB mortal remains were brought from the far-away Land 
of Nile to be laid in the soil of his nativity, the place where 
they repose being marked by a massive slab of Cornish 
granite, on which lies a recumbent cross of the same materiaL 
The iuscriptiou is in the following terms : 

" To the memory of Colonel John Clark Kennedy, C.B., Colonel 
Commandant Boyal Military Ti^in, of Knockgray, in the Ste wartry of 
Kirkcudbright, eldest son of Lieut. -General Sir Alexander Kennedy 
Clark Kennedy, K C.B., KH., of Knockgray, and Harriet Behekah, 
his wife. Bom 2l8t September, 1817 ; died ISth December, 1867, at 
Alexandria, while on special service in Egypt, and is buried here. 
Two sons and three daughters, with his sorrowing widow, moura 
their irreparable loss. * Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, 
for they rest from their labours.' — Rev. xiv. 13." 

Before leaving the sleeping-place of the departed hero, we 
think of Collinses beautiful ode : 

" How sleep the brave, who sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blest ? 
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Betums to deck their hallowed mould, 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Thau Fancy's feet have ever trod. 

By fairy hands their knell is wrung. 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung. 
There Honour comes, a pilgrim ^V* 
Tu blese the turf that wraps their olay. 
And Freedom shall awhile repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there ! '* 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL's. 421 

" I know that my Bedeemer liveth :" these words appear on 
a large granite slab, expressing the realised assurance of the 
sleeper whom it commemorates — John Wesley Thomas, a 
devoted minister of the Connexion which waa founded by 
the great divine whose name he bore. Mr. Thomas was a 
man of no ordinary attainments: He was a good scholar, 
and among other literary productions he published a transla- 
tion of Dante, which possesses considerable merit. He was 
far past his prime when stationed as pastor of the Dumfries 
"Wesleyans ; but even at threescore years and twelve he was 
able to preach with energy and acceptance. The inscription 
states that Mr. Thomas was bom at Exeter, and died at 
Dumfries 7th February, 1872, in the 74th year of his age and 
the 50th of his ministry. 

Dumfries has not produced many painters of high merit ; 
and hitherto we have only met with the name of one — 
William Kennedy — ^in our churchyard rambles. Another 
artist of true genius, but less known to fame, lies interred 
near the north-west corner of the New Ground. Over his 
grave rises a graceful obelisk, bearing an intimation that it 
was " Erected by a few friends to the memory of John B. 
Maxwell, artist, Dumfries," died 22d October 1853, aged 
40. The deceased was a native of Corsock, Kirkpatrick- 
Durham, and coming to this town as a portrait painter when 
comparatively young he soon obtained extensive patronage. 
His likenesses were so faithful, and in other respects so well 
executed, that they brought him more than local repute, and 
some of his pictures will bear comparison with those produced 
by acknowledged masters of the art. Without exaggeration 
we may say of Mr. Maxwell's portraits : 

** likeness is ever there ; but still the best, 
Like proper thoughts in lofty language dressed : 
Of various parts, a perfect whole was wrought : 
His pictures think, and we divine their thought." 

Occasionally, but rarely, his pencil was turned to other sub- 
jects besides " the human face divine." In ** Oor Aggie,** re- 
presenting a comely damsel on culinary business bent, he 
displayed considerable originality and much constructive 
skm. 



42^ mSHORlAXS OF ST. MICHAEL^S. 

A few other stones merit special notice on account of their 
artistic excellence. One of these is in memorj of Joseph 
Harkness died at Glencaple 24th April 1867, aged 39 ; and 
two infant children who died in India. From surroundings of 
rich carvings on the pediment, a figure of Faith looks through 
with hands extended beaiiug a scroll, on which are inscribed 
the appropriate words, " I know that my Redeemer liveth." 

On a very graceful monument of white marble with a 
cruciform pinnacle, and tiny side pilasters of brown granite, 
we read the name of a worthy farmer, Thomas Bidning, 
Hightown of Craigs, died 19th March 1873, aged 56. 

An upright slab of gray granite with taateful outline, and 
an oval pediment of white marble, on which two beautifully 
chiselled hands are clasped, has its effect further enhanced by 
a gilt inscription telling that the monument was erected 
by May ^orstoun to commemorate her husband Michael 
M'Chrystal, of Westfield, near Dumfries, who died 19th 
April 1872, aged 66. 

Much fine taste is displayed in a monument erected by 
William Gladstone Scott, fish merchant, in memory of his 
wife Christian Noble Glendinning, died 28th November 1872, 
aged 33 ; and three of their offspring, William Gladstone 
and John Gladstone, who died in babyhood, and Edith 
Christina Razalina, who enjoyed but a few years' lease of life. 
Four finely-carved cherub's heads, winged, give a florid 
aspect to the pediment. The tablets bearing the names 
of the deceased are of white marble, three in number, which 
in their framework of red freestone have a beautiful effect 

A small cros£(, of beautiful proportions, with nimbus, rises 
in memory of James Dickson, "bom in Edinburgh 2d Novem- 
ber 1800, died at Dumfries 28th October 1873, much loved 
and deeply regretted." 

William Johnstone, died at Nunholm, 2d February 1872, 
aged 67, is commemorated by a neat Grecian monument sur- 
mounted by a graceful urn, and enriched by a white marble 
tablet, which contrasts finely with the red sandstone of which 
the edifice is constructed. It is the workmanship oi Mr. 
Thomas M^eekan, Dumfries. 



HEBKORIALS OF ST. M^CHAEL's. 423 

A large headstone-memorial^ unique in colour and grace- 
ful in form, bears the name of John Grierson, of Muirside, 
Holywood, who died there 31st December 1874, aged 71. 
The material used is Aberdeen granite, of a light-brown hue, 
deepened and enriched by the burnishing to which it has 
been subjected. Some fine chased work is displayed on the 
pediment, to which the chisel, by removing the polished sur- 
face, has given a lighter tinge ; while a base of grey granite 
renders the monument increasingly picturesque. 

One of the latest acquisitions to the ground is a very 
handsome obelisk, sacred to the memory of John Hy»lop, 
a student at Glasgow University, cut down in opening man- 
hood, when he was full of promise. He died at Peebles, 4th 
August 1875, aged 25. The figure o( a human hand, out in 
white marble, points significantly up to heaven from the 
apex of the edifice. On its base appears the following stanza : 

*' O think that aU his pains are fled. 

His toils and sorrows closed for ever ; 
While He whose blood for man was shed 
Has placed upon His servant's head 
A crown that fadeth never." 

Mr. Hyslop possessed great natural ability, and was an 

amiable as well as an accomplished young gentleman. He 

died of a lingering illness brought on, or aggravated, by over 

study. He was the son of Mr. John Hyslop, who has been in 

the service of the Caledonian Bailway Company for more than 

a quarter of a century, and is now officiating as their agent at 

Peebles, where he is deservedly held in high esteem. The 

deceased student w^s the nephew of Mr, William Hyslop, of 

Stretton House, Church Stretton, Shropshire, whose name is so 

honourably associated with the treatment of the insane, and 

to whom the credit is due of having been the introducer of 

the non-restraint system into this country. 

There are in the ground two if not more blank monuments 
which mark family layers, still wholly or for the most part 
untenanted ; one of these a handsome edifice on the north 
wall is the property of Mr. George Thomson, baker ; another 
which was recently set up near the centre of the yard, is a 
tall, graceful, obelisk, belonging to Mr. Lorimer, Nithbank. 




ADDITIOKB. 

[WO very interesting old monuments were brought to 
light since the preceding sheets passed through the 
press. One erected near the entrance gate bears the 
fc^owing intimation : " Here lyes WHllam Irving, merchant 
in Dumfries, who died the 25th December 1679, aged 35 
years. Agnes Carlile^ his spouse, who died ye 4th of Aprill 
1708, aged 56 years. Here lyes John Irving, late Convener of 

the Seven Corporations of Dumfries, who depart ." The 

main inscription is left in this uncompleted state. An additional 
one states that the stone is the property of John Carson, 
junior ; while below there is a grotesque bat well-*execated 
device representing a skull, cross-bones, a sand-glass of a 
very antique pattern, together with a pair of grave-digging 
implements ajs supporters. 

More old-fashioned still is the other venerable memento— 
a heavy slab having its face newly-revealed that had long 
been buried in the soil near the stone which commemorates 
John Allan and his wife Margaret Crosbie. The inscrip- 
tion is in raised characters arranged so as to form a border 
for the stone, and runs thus : " Here lyis Andrew Corsbie, 
marchant, who depairted the vi. Agust 1674, setatis 77." A 
shield-like figure within the lettered selvage has the initials 
A. H. on one side, those of G. N. on the other, and the figure 
4 in the centre, the whole forming an enigma which would 
be difficult to solve. 

A slab of more modem date within the Gibson burial 
ground at the south-west corner was recently laid bare, 
which commemorates William Gibson, Deacon of the ileshersy 
died 28th December, 1802, aged 53 ; Janet M^Michan, his 
spouse ; (the parents of John Gibson, Braehead, who is named 
upon the principal monument in the compartment), their chil- 
dren, three Williams and Agnes, who died in infancy ; Janet, 
died dth September^ 1806, aged 29^ and Clementina^ died 



MEMORIALS OF 6T. MICHAEL's. 425 

15th April 1812^ aged 26; also, the Deacon's son-in-law, 
Edward Watson, the name of whose wife, Mary Gibson, also 
appears upon the principal memorial. 

A headstone near the Key monument east of the Church 
was inadvertently left unnoticed in its proper place : It is in 
memory of James Mouncey, died 1st February 1839, aged 
57 ; Isabella Thomson, his spouse ; their children, John, died 
in Bombay, aged 22 ; Elizabeth, died at Crewe, aged 33 ; 
Helen, aged 36, and Janet, aged 45. 

The table monument to Bailie Paterson's son, which is 
referred to on page 5, as having been " subjected to ign6toi- 
nious treatment," has, in accordance with the suggestion there 
made, been re-edified, and its inscription been brought to view. 

A neat headstone has been just set up near the Martyrs' 
Pyramid devoted to Archibald Dickson, died at Georgetown 
1st June 1875, aged 48 ; Helen Kennedy, his wife, and their 
infant children Archibald and Mary. 

The following are among the new names inscribed on 
family stones since our notices of the latter were put in 
type : Robert M'Adam, an exceedingly well-informed and 
ingenious watchmaker, died at Brighton (where he had gone 
in a vain quest for health), 14th July 1875, aged 64 ; 
William Boss, an aged freeman of the Tailors' Incor- 
poration, died 19th March 1876, aged 76 ; John Richardson, 
another veteran craftsman, who carried on business as a 
clogmaker, died 10th April 1876, aged 74 ; and James Perry, 
saddler, an intelligent man, descended from a good old 
Cameronian stock, and himself a devoted Reformed Presby- 
terian, died 18th June 1876, aged 61. 

When describing the Sharpe memorial we were unable to 
throw any reliable light upon the name of the sculptor by 
whom it was fashioned ; but we have since seen reasons for be- 
lieving that it must have been the handiwork of the artist who 
executed the marble monument to Duke James of Queensberry 
and his Duchess, in 1711, and which is placed in the parish 
church at Durrisdeer. The weeping cherub figures of the 
one structure are reproduced in the other, and in many of 



426 xmoBiALs of st. kichasl's. 

their details they are nearly, if not quite, the same. Thia 
piece of information was sapplied to us by Mr FHnt ; and if 
the general supposition be correct that the Durrisdeer monu- 
ment is from the chisel of Boubilliac, we may safely conclude 
that the Hoddam monument in St. Michael's is the work- 
manship of the same distinguished artist. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

We now close our fragmentary record of a Cemetery 
wherein lies the dust of at least eighty thousand human 
beings, that were "fearfully and wonderfully framed" 
whilst denizens of the earth above, and each of whom still 
possesses a separate entity, though their organisms have 
been broken up, or are rapidly mouldering away, be- 
neath the stones we have passed under notice, or the turf 
over which we have been travelling. "*Dust thou art, to 
dust retumest,' was not spoken of the soul ;" and even for 
the body, which has been resolved into dust, there is a time 
of returning and of revival yet in store. Viewed as a place 
in which insensate friends have been hid from sight, beyond 
"the precincts of the cheerful day," the churchyard possesses 
an interest that is alike moamful and deep ; but it loses 
much of its gloom, and its interest is immensely increased, 
when we can think of it as a bed in which the weak and 
the weary find a rest that is not to last for ever, and is but 
the sleep of a long-protracted night that will terminate on 
the resurrection day. We have the warrant of Holy Writ 
for looking upon the grave bs a haven of rest ; and it is 
represented in Scripture by a still more pleasing figiye, — ^that 
of a garden where the bodies of the dead become freed from 
corrupting dross, and whence in due time they will grow up, 
thoroughly purified, and dowered with the heritage of im- 
mortality. 



*' See Truth, Love, and Mercy in triumph descending, 
And Nature aU glowing in Eden's furst bloom ; 
On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending, 
And Beauty, immortal, awakes from the tomb." 

The sentiment of these fine lines is not a matter of mere 
poetic fancy, but is the product of heavenly inspiration, as 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAXL^S. 427 

given expression to by Paul : "But," asks the apostle, " how 
are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come V^ 
Commenting upon this passage, Dr. Islay Bums has the fol- 
lowing pertinent observations, which will, we hope, not be 
deemed out of place in the present volume : 

" The question will still recur," he says, " not on the sug- 
gestion only of a wistful curiosity, but under the pressure of 
those doubts which the physical difficulties of the case now, 
as in the apostle's days, awaken, How shall it be possible 
even for Omnipotence itself to gather together again from 
the sepulchres of all the ages the dust of each of His saints, 
so long since dissolved, dispersed, blown about the world, 
mixed up with other organisms, taken up into the very block! 
and flesh of other animals and other men in the long succes- 
sion of ages? How shall each reclaim his own, when the 
same substance, the same identical particles, have belonged 
successively to many 1 Can Omnipotence itself overcome the 
natural impossibilities of the same atom being in two places 
and forming a part of two distinct material organisms at 
once ? Surely, if the immortal spirits of men are again to be 
invested with a material form, it cannot be the same identical 
body which they laid aside at death, and which they left 
behind them in the grave. 

The objection is specious, but not solid. It is founded 
altogether, not on the difficulties of the doctrine itself, but 
on an erroneous and superficial understanding of the doc- 
trine. The identity of animal organisms is an identity, not 
of particles, but of form and structure and continuous sen- 
tient life. Even during our present state of existence, while 
the organic identity of our bodies remains, their material sub- 
stance is incessantly changing; so that in the course of a 
very few years every single atom of their present framework 
shall have passed away and given place to others. Thus, in 
this sense, the body of the child is different from the body of 
the boy, and the body of the boy from that of the man, and 
the substance we take from our mother's womb is not the 
same, but wholly other than that which we shall lay in the 
tomb. It is not in this, then, that our true identity consists j 



428 HSMORLAJiS Ot ST. XICHAXL's. 

seeing that, amid all the incessant change that in this respect 
takes place, that identity remains all the while unaffected. 
There is no individuality in atoms ; each one^ so far as we 
know, is like another, and can contribute nothing, there- 
fore, to the distinctive peculiarity or differentia of the bodies 
which they compose. I am what I am, not because I am 
composed of such and such pai*ticles, but because out of such 
particles I have been moulded by the plastic hand of Grod 
into that distinctive form and type of oiganic substance 
which belongs to me as an individual, and which is mine 
and not another's. Even if, by a miracle, every atom of my 
bodily substance were in an instant ehminated and substi- 
tuted by others, I would still remain, as to everything which 
constitutes my true identity, alike in body as in soul, totally 
unchanged. 

In this sense, then, — ^that is to say, in the sense, not of an 
atomic, but of an organic and vital identity, — the body of our 
resurrection shall be the same with the body of our burial. 
As the body of our birth is the same with the body of our 
death, so shall be the body of our death with the body of 
our immortality. It will be changed and yet the same — 
changed in its conditions, properties, powers ; the same in 
individual form and type, in its characteristic style and phy- 
siognomy, in the proportion of its parts, and the special 
adaptation to the uses of that one particular soul to which it 
inalieniably belongs, — so truly the same, that both we our- 
selves shall be sure of it, and all who knew us before in the 
flesh shall recognise and know us again. It will be the same 
though raised now to the full predestined perfection of its 
nature, conformed to its true ideal, even as its type was cast 
in the eternal thought of God from the first — bright, beauti- 
ful, glorious — each according to its own individual style and 
fashion of brightness, beauty, glory, as every true work of 
God is and must be. 

It was thus that the Apostle in his own grand way solved 
the difl&culty : * Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, except it die : and that which thou sowest, thou 
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may 



MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S. 429 

chance of wheat, or of some other grain : but God giveth it 
a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own 

body So also is the resurrection of the dead. 

It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is 
sown in dishonour ; it is raised in glory : it is sown in weak- 
ness ; it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body ; it is 
raised a spiritual body. .... So when this corruptible 
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have 
put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying 
that is written, Death is swaUowed up in victory.' (1 Cor. 
XV. 36-54.)" 

These cemetery *' Memorials," then, of which we have been 
giving an imperfect sketch, are but as the little wooden 
tickets that the gardener employs to mark the spots where his 
various seeds lie embedded, waiting for the voice of Spring to 
call them forth in the form of plants or flowers. We borrow, 
in closing, one of Longfellow's poems, in which the idea 
enunciated by Paul is beautifully embodied : 



(( 



I hke that ancient Saxon phrase which calls 
The burial-ground God's Acre ! It is just ; 

It consecrates each grave within its walls, 
And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust. 

God's Acre ! Yes, that blessed name imparts 
Comfort to those who in the grave have sown 

The seed, that they have garnered in their hearts 
Their bread of life ; alas ! no more their own. 

Into its furrows shall we all be cast 
In the sure faith that we shall rise again 

At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast, 
Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain. 

Then shall the good stand in immortal bloom 
In the fair gardens of that second birth ; 

And each bright blossom mingle its perfume 
With that of flowers which never bloomed on earth. 

With thy rough ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod, 
And spi ead the furrow for the se'd we sow. 

This is the field and acre of our God ; 
This is the place where human harvests grow V 



!>♦ 



j^i3i^E3sri:nx. 



EEGULATIONS 

FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCHYARD. 

A meeting of Joint Committees of the Magistrates^ Heritors, 
and Kirk-Session of Dumfries, was held on the 5th May 
1875, with the view of framing regulations for the future 
management of St. Michael's Churchyard ; this step having 
been deemed requisite on account of conflicting opinions 
having been entertained, by the bodies concerned, on the 
subject. There were present — Provost Smith for the Magis- 
trates (in the chair) ; Messrs. Symons and Anderson for the 
Landward Heritors, Mr. Corrie for the Kirk-Session, and the 
Eev. Mr. Paton, Convener. The minute of the proceedings is 
as follows : 

" The Heritors' Clerk produced excerpts from minutes of 
Kirk-Session, dated 25th . December 1860, and of Town 
Council, dated 4th January and 1st February 1861, relative 
to the appointment of John Tait, the present Sexix>n, from 
which it appeared that he held the office during pleasure, and 
subject to such rules and conditions as might be presented to 
him from time to time, and specially under the condition that 
for certain stated hours on week-days the Churchyard should 
be kept open free. 

The Clerk also produced an excerpt from Colonel Burns's 
conveyance to the Education Society, dated 18th June 1858, 
which imposed upon the Society the burden of keeping 
the Burns's Mausoleum in repair. 

Mr. Mitchell,* Secretary for the Burns's Club, appeared 
and stated the footing on which the Sexton had charge of 
Burns's Mausoleum — videlicet, that from the gratuities he 
received from visitors for showing the Mausoleum he paid 
the club ^2 annually for the cost of keeping it in repair. 

After consideration the meeting resolved to recommend 
the different bodies interested to agree to the following regu- 
lations for the future management of the Graveyard, viz. : 

1. The Churchyard gate shall be open on week-days from 
eleven till three o'clock. 

* Mr. Donald Mitchell, the late able and accomplished editor and 
proprietor of the Dumfries Courier, vhose lamented death took place 
at his residence, Douglas Bank, Dumfries, 3d October 1876. 



432 APPENDIX. 

2. The gate sliall be kept locked at all other times. 

3. The Sexton shall be bound to unlock the gate at any 
other time during the day free of charge on the request of 
persons interested in the Graveyard. 

4. The Churchyard gate shall be open on Sundays from 
ten o'clock till sunset. 

5. During the hours of Divine Service, the Sexton being 
engaged in Church, a policeman shall be in attendance to 
preserve order. 

6. The Provost, Minister, and Heritors' Clerk for the time 
being to have the general supervision of the Churchyard, 
with power to see that the walks and the ground generally 
are kept in order. As by the terms of Colonel Burns's con- 
veyance to the Education Society, the Society are bound to 
maintain in good repair the Mausoleum erected in memory of 
the Poet, the Burns's Club are recommended to cancel the 
arrangement by which they receive from the Sexton £2 
annually to meet the cost of such repair, to approve of a 
uniform charge by the Sexton, for opening the gate of the 
Mausoleum, of threepence for each person, and to forbid the 
Mausoleum being opened on Sundays — an announcement to 
this effect to be put up at the entrance to the Mausoleum." 

The Churchyard Managers constituted as above met on 
14th July, 1876. Present — Provost Smith, Eev. Mr. Paton, 
and Mr. M^Growan, when the Provost stated " that certain 
tradesmen had complained to him that they could not get 
access to the Churchyard after three o'clock when the gate 
was locked. The Sexton explained that he was always ready 
to open the gate after that hour, in terms of the regulations 
whenever requested." 

At page 110 of the text we gave the resolutions come to by 
the Burns's Club on receipt of the recommendations made by 
the Magistrates, Heritors, and Kirk-Session regarding the 
Mausoleum. 



BRRATA. 



On page 315, for ffenus read asNius ; on page 318, for Bute 
read Bruce. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



A 

Adair, 208. 

Adam, 412. 

Adamson, 165, 204. 

Affleck, 35, 53, 198, 209, 322, 

412. . 
Aiken, 415. 
Aikin, 341. 
Aird, 389. 
Aitchison, 323, 324. 
Aitken, 57, 90, 172, 232, 282. 
Aitkin, 342. 
Allan, 79, 218, 284, 424. 
Allen, 406. 
Anderson, 53, 59, 90, 118, 143, 

164, 180, 183, 209, 2^6, 280, 

282, 285, 286, 289, 306, 333, 

387, 401, 408, 413. 
Anstruther, 151. 
Antill, 417. 
Archibald, 219, 370. 
Archbold, 261. 
Armstrong, 40, 115, 185, 199, 

200,324,411,416. 

B 

Babington, 116,231. 
Bailie, 312. 
Bain, 182, 196. 
Baird, 287, 409. 
Bairden, 323. 
Balieff, 56. 
Ball, 339. 
Ballantine, 327. 
Barber, 333. 
Barker, 114. 
Barron, 122, 175. 
Barry, 237, 261, 284. 
Bates, 416. 



Baxter, 4, 133, 237, 417. 

Bean, 95. 

Beattie, 141, 188, 299, 410, 

411. 
Beatty, 313. 
Beck, 93, 184, 217, 405. 
Bell, 18, 29, 72, 131, 144, 171, 

178, 187,285,312. 
Bellinger, 218. 
Bendal, 259. 
Bendall, 256. 
Benson, 177. 
Bertram, 388. 
Berwick, 118, 168. 
Bethune, 273. 
Be van, 170. 
Biggar, 97, 146, 234. 
Bishop, 33. 
Black, 94, 145, 178, 237, 258, 

259, 329. 
Blacklock, 244, 249, 274. 
Blackstock, 314. 
Blain, 286. 
Blaind, 288. 
Blair, 70, 161, 279, 368. 
Blaylock, 408. 
Blount, 41, 229, 313. 
Bloxam, 126. 
Boddan, 244. 
Boe, 415. 
Bogie, 124, 237. 
Borland, 54, 302. 
Borthwick, 385, 386. 
Bowman, 178, 180, 313, 386. 
Boyd, 219, 233, 236, 406, 407, 

410. 
Boyes, 406. 

Brand, 76, 184, 257, 307, 375. 
Brander, 268. 

b2 



434 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Breck, 325. 

Bremner, 412. 

"Bridff es, 234. 

BrocHie, 140. 

Brooks, 240. 

Broom, 329. 

Brown, 35, 39, 61, 122, 139, 

150, 177, 235, 258, 300, 332, 

405, 409, 414. 
Bruce, 318, 331, 340. 
Bryden, 183, 192. 
Buie, 318. 
Bull, 411. 
Burgess, 257, 309. 
Burnet, 77, 121, 124 
Burnley, 115. 
Bums, 84, 101. 
Bumside, 67, 119, 133. 
Bushby, 80. 
Butler, 400. 
Byres, 258. 
Byrne, 273. 



Callan, 295. 

Callander, 284, 406. 

Cameron, 386. 

Campbell, 27,63, 269, 303, 322. 

Cannon, 205, 246. 

Carlisle, 302. 

Carlyle, 36, 127. 

Carrenes, 287. 

Carrick, 259. 

Carruthers, 35, 46, 97, 154, 

233, 261, 303, 318, 411. 
Carson, 410, 416, 424. 
Cassady, 188. 
Cavan, 399. 
Chalmers, 188, 282. 
Chambers, 63. 
Charterifl, 126, 176. 
Charters, 363. 
Chesney, 261. 
Chisholm, 322. 
Christie, 305. 
Clarke, 268. 



Clark, 36, 60, 140, 146, 178, 
217, 230, 259, 292, 303, 365, 
408, 412. 

Clyde, 320. 

Colquhoun, 401. 

Coltart, 43, 94, 387, 409. 

Colvin, 129, 149, 334. 

Commelin, 124. 

Comrie, 84. 

Connal, 122. 

Cook, 416. 

Copland, 31, 226, 412. 

Corbet, 29, 65. 

Corrie, 69, 283, 310, 311, 332, 
356, 401. 

Corsane, 6. 

Corsbie, 424. 

Corson, 96, 124, 150, 181. 

Costine, 387. 

Coulter, 416. 

Coulthart, 210, 282. 

Coupland, 178, 411. 

Courtis, 78. 

Cowan, 140, 176, 300. 

Cowans, 326. 

Cradock, 405. 

Craig, 279, 401. 

Craik, 26, 267, 307, 413. 

Crawford, 179. 

Creighton, 197, 286. 

Crichton, 92, 119, 417. 

Crocket, 53, 54. 

Croinbie, 203, 262, 264, 303. 

Crosbie, 16, 89, 140, 175, 176, 
180, 217, 235, 240, 254, 256, 
257, 281, 306, 333,339, 4ia 

Cumming, 46, 415. 

Cunningham, 79, 178. 

Currie, 39, 93, 176, 296, 397. 

Cuthbart, 235. 

Cutlar, 74. 



Dale, 171. 
Dalgleish, 35, 60. 
Balling, 413. 
Daltymple, 332, 



GENERAL INDEX. 



435 



Dalyell, 61. 

Dalzell, 168, 203. 

DaJziel, 406. 

Daniel, 144. 

Darling, 261. 

Davidson, 406, 412, 417. 

Davis, 124. 

Denholm, 67. 

Denniston, 171, 186. 

Dick, 339. 

Dickie, 297, 415. 

Dickson, 19, 96, 130, 172, 176, 

203, 231, 273, 287, 296, 309^ 

313,320, 376, 386, 399,406, 

410 422 425. 
Dinwiddie'47, 76, 96, 194, 218. 
Dinwoodie, 411. 
Dobbie, 39. 
Dobie, 376, 416. 
Dobson, 406. 
Docherty, 221. 
Donald, 92. 

Donaldson, 78, 87, 302. 
Douglas, 55, 131, 303, 305, 

368, 405, 410. 
Dow, 70, 416. 
Drummond, 126. 
Drysdale, 386. 
Dudgeon, 131. • 

Duff, 266. 
Duke, 223. 

Dunbar, 53, 88, 356, 382. 
Duncan, 133, 21T, 218, 238, 

241, 243. 
Dunlop, 86, 149, 154, 212. 
Dunn, 184, 189. 

£ 

Eaaton, 171, 257. 

Edgar, 10, 30, 126, 171, 178, 

220, 273, 314, 412. 
Eliot, 414. 
Elton, 183. 
Evans, 145. 
Ewart, 90, 291, 328, 372, 373, 

376. 
Ewing, 256, 321. 



Falkner, 144. 

Fallas, 146, 282. 

Farish, 142. 

Farm, 93. 

Ferguson, 96, 219, 325, 411. 

Fergusson, 39, 74, 178, 218, 

219, 224, 256, 282, 289, 380, 

411. 
Terrier, 39. 
Fildes, 176. 
Findlater, 179. 
Findlay, 304. 
Fingass, 290. 
Finlay, 67. 
Finnan, 282. 
Fisher, 413. 
Fleming, 94, 258. 
Forest, 325. 
Forrest, 413. 
Forrester, 401. 
Forsyth, 120. 
Forteath, 302. 
Foster, 407. 
Fraser, 100, 158, 187, 287, 

288, 398. 
Frazer, 92. 
Frood, 53. 
FuUerton, 312. 
Fulton, 60. 
Fyfe, 193. 

a 

Gaffie, 178. 

Galen, 218. 

Galloway, 305. 

Gardiner, 148. 

Garmery, 142, 143. 

Gas, 51, 235. 

Gass, 62, 235. 

Gaven, 417. 

Geddes, 256. 

Gellatly, 320. 

Gibson, 24, 92, 180, 210, 257, 

284, 302, 386, 407, 424. 
Gilchrist, 15, 219. 
Gillespie, 234, 323, 400, 416. 



436 



OEXERAL 1ND£X 



GiUet, 127. 

Gillies, 149, 329. 

GiUiflon, 35. 

Gladstone, 292, 396. 

GleD, 307. 

Glencroes, 175. 

Glendinsing, 324. 

Gloag, 407. 

Glover, 76, 213, 331, 385. 

Goldie, 69, 75, 76, 140, 234, 

257, 399. 
Goold, 148. 
Gordon, 2^ 31, 32, 35, 41, 59, 

73, 93ri23, 170, 219, 277, 

279, 410. 
Gornal, 59, 113. 
Growan, 318. 
Gowanlock, 176. 
Gracie, 80, 82, 257, 279, 416. 
Graham, 100, 179, 321, 410. 
Grainger, 95. 
Grant, 319. 
Gray, 268. 
Gregan, 297. 
Grierson, 54, 122, 131, 139, 

145, 216,286, 333, 343, 347, 

397, 415, 423. 
Grieve, 290. 
Griffith, 127. 
Grindal, 333. 
Grive, 302. 
Gullen, 284. 
Gunnyon, 93. 
Gunyon, 76, 415. 
Guthrie, 60. , 



Haddon, 234. 

Haining, 67, 143, 171, 203, 

217, 318, 327, 411, 422. 
Hair, 142, 240, 305. 
Hall, 187, 398. 
Halliday, 65, 89, 130, 185, 

310, 387, 416. 
Hamilton, 98, 226, 305, 405, 

416. 



Hannah, 38, 39, 176, 405. 
Hannay, 121, 176, 275. 
Harding, 411. 
Harkness, 145, 149, 151, 153, 

193, 408, 422. 
Harley, 75, 262. 
Harris, 60. 
Hastings, 406. 
Haugh, 191. 
Haughton, 142. 
Hay, 219, 303. 
Hay land, 94, 211. 
Hearse, 62. 
Hellon, 113. 
Henderson, 79, 186, 221, 228, 

400. 
Henrieson, 229. 
Henry, 212. 
Hepburn, 30, 41. 
Heron, 29, 71, 72, 132. 
Berries, 53, 277, 287. 
Hetherington, 318. 
Heuchan, 126. 
Hibbs, 405. 
Hiddleston, 213. 
HiU, 73, 284. 
Hinchsliffe, 112. 
Hogff, 47, 60, 180, 308. 
Holder, 201. 
Hoist, 241. 
Holt, 140. 

Hood, 160, 161, 227, 257. 
Hope, 52, 186. 
Hossack, 195. 
Houston, 132, 142. 
Howat, 47, 59, 97, 122, 146, 

281, 365. 
Hughs, 413. 
Hume, 177, 408. 
Hunter, 94, 176, 317. 
Hutchinson, 53. 
Hutchison, 302. 
Hutton, 53. 
Hynd, 36. 
Hyslop, 80, 179, 257, 300, 

423. 



GEKERAL INDEX. 



437 



Inglis, 217, 218, 319. 

Inman, 112, 187, 417. 

Ireland, 326. 

Irvine, 60. 

Irving, 11, 60, 79, 138, 139, 
172, 179, 188, 208, 256, 278, 
300, 313, 367, 409, 416, 424. 



Jackson, 80, 83, 235, 256. 

Jamieson, 177, 201. 

Jardine, 37, 130, 320. 

Jarrett, 122. 

Jefferson, 332. 

Johnston, 32, 59, 61, 80, 139, 

140, 180, 218, 255, 256, 284, 

288, 301, 331, 334, 339, 357, 

375, 376, 410. 
Johnstone, 113, 165, 185, 262, 

279, 280, 289, 303, 318, 320, 

397, 401, 422. 

K 

Kay, 413. 

Kean, 130. 

Kelly, 145, 201. 

Kemeys, 285. 

Kemp, 247, 273. 

Kennan, 325. 

Kennedy, 133, 230, 266, 334, 

339, 398, 417, 419. 
Kerr, 53, 135, 157, 185, 214, 

243, 256, 326, 327, 386, 405, 

408. 
Key, 301, 371. 
King, 176, 416. 
Kirk, 346, 386. 
Kirkpatrick, 23, 35, 82, 179, 

191, 276, 285, 326, 332, 406, 

406, 412. 
Knowles, 183, 285. 



Laing, 196. 
Lancaster, 287. 
Landrough, 142. 



Lanffhome, 176. 

Lauder, 172, 415. 

Laurie, 407. 

Laury, 60. 

Lauson, 311. 

Lawson, 58, 67, 69, 97, 220, 

224,311,416. 
.Learmont, 309. 
Leighton, 165. 
Lemmon, 141. 
Lennon, 406. 
Lennox, 302. 
Lewars, 80, 83. 
Lewis, 406. 
Lindsay, 171. 
Linn, 362. 
Little, 56, 268, 281, 284 

285. 
Locke, 47, 325. 
Lockerbie, 412. 
Lonsdale, 169. 
Lookup, 57, 138, 218, 304. 
Lorimer, 225, 264, 423. 
Love, 296. 
Low, 416. 

Lowthian, 19. • 

Luck, 268. 
Lutterick, 284. 
Lyel, 340. 

M 

Maitland, 23L 
Malam, 387. 
Malcolm, 207, 290. 
Manderson, 279. 

"M^ an nftl 1 22 

Martin,' 36, 264, 303, 326, 399, 

418. 
Maxwell, 13, 71, 72, 75, 130, 

225, 226, 276, 277, 278, 286, 

416, 421. 
Mein, 46, 234, 
Melbourne, 57. 
Melville, 116. 
Menzies, 269. 
Mercer, 73. 
Millar, 67, 406. 



438 



OSNXRAL INDEX. 



Miller, 93, 191, 214, 235, 258, 

260. 
MiUigan, 153, 164, 181, 292, 

318. 
Mills, 78. 

Milroy, 302, 320, 321. 
MitcheD, 44, 60, 99, 148, 219, 
, 249,306,338,401,495. 
Mitchelson, 34. 
Moffat, 140, 178, 179, 365, 416. 
Montgomery, 181. 
Moodie, 179. 
Moore, 388. 
Moorhead, 220. 
Moreland, 134. 
Morell, 411. 
Morgan, 140. 
Monue, 302. 
Morrison, 219, 410. 
Morton, 324. 
Moscrop, 127. 
Mouat, 204. 
Mouncey, 425. 
Mounsey, 307. 
Muir, 79, 257, 387. 
Muirhead, 45, 135. 
Muller, 234. 
Mimcie, 61. 
Mundell, 128, 283. 
Murdoch, 302, 333, 385, 417. 
Murhead, 220. 
Murphie, 405, 416. 
Murray, 123, 150, 179, 201, 

259, 324, 416. 
Mutter, 253, 363. 

Mac, 
Macaulay, 406. 
Machray, 381. 
Macintyre, 417. 
Mackenzie, 366. 

Mo. 
M'Adam, 116, 188, 425. 
M'Brair, 309. 
M'Bumie, 219, 401, 410. 
M'Callum, 406. 



McCartney, 7a 
M'Caskie, 78, 203, 217, 220. 
M'Oaw, 301. 
M'Chrystal, 422. 
M'Qure, 108, 325. 
M'auskey, 290. 
M'Conochie, 175, 408. 
M'Cormick, 328. 
M'Comock, 33, 59. 
M'Cracken, 98, 190, 212. 
M'Cririe, 412. 
M'CuIloch, 9, 416. 
M'Diarmid, 163, 196. 
M'DougaU, 175, 259, 411. 
M'DowaU, 99, 161, 187. 
M'Gaffie, 326. 
M'George, 92, 148, 212, 367, 

405, 410. 
M'Ghie, 222. 
M'Gill, 144. 
M'Gowan, 142, 149, 150, 151, 

382, 411. 
McGregor, 174. 
M'Guffog, 122, 281. 
M'Holme, 416. 
M^lwrith, 280. 
M'Innes, 179. 
Mcintosh, 186, 411. 
M'Intyre, 183. 
IkT'Kay, 139, 144, 296. 
M'Keachie, 409, 417. 
M'Keand, 234. 
M'Kelvie, 396. 
M^Kendrick, 318. 
M'Kenzie, 179, 407. 
M'Kie, 52, 139, 198, 210, 259, 

282, 331, 406. 
M'Kill, 184, 226, 236. 
M'KinneU, 74, 100, 212. 
M'Kinnon, 285. 
M'Kitrick, 269. 
M'Kune, 289. 
M'Lachlan, 257, 321, 327. 
M^Lauchlan, 357. 
M'Lean, 327, 416. 
MXellan, 52, 92, 183, 247, 

399, 408, 409. 



GE17SBAL INDEX. 



439 



M'Leod, 289, 405. 
M'Master, 326. 
M'Michael, 142. 
M'Millan, 258, 291. 
M'Minn, 148, 156, 213. 
M'Morine, 94. 
M'Murday, 241. 
M'Murdie, 239. 
M'Murdo, 69, 156, 161, 240, 

242, 368, 369, 400. 
M'Nairn, 172. 
M'Naught, 43, 94, 142, 191. 
McNeil, 134,269,272. 
M'Night, 214. 
M'Nish, 253. 
M'Noe, 46. 
MTherson, 150. 
McQueen, 133, 410. 
M'Quhae, 184, 289. 
M'Robert, 177, 324. 
M'Turk, 120, 131. 
M'Vitie, 193. 
M'Whan, 227. 
M'Whir, 120, 202. 
M'Wimam, 93. 

N 

Nabnae, 417. 

Nairn, 314. 

Neilson, 202, 257, 286, 287, 

314, 327. 
Neisham, 408. 
Ness, 131. 
Neuall, 206. 

Newall, 40, 216, 218, 301. 
Newbigging, 418. 
Nibloe, 201, 385. 
Nicholas, 93.' 
Nicholson, 87, 171, 209, 217, 

244, 287, 296, 321, 323, 

407. 
Nimmo, 396. 
Nixon, 300. 
Nodwell, 413. 
Nonis, 93. 



OTarrell, 313. 
Oldrini, 62. 
Oliver, 59. 
Orr, 255. 
Oughterson, 292. 



Pagan, 214, 299. 

Pain, 318. 

Palmer, 39, 308. 

Pai^ker, 176. 

Parkins, 177. 

Paterson, 5, 53, 89, 176, 30^ 

386, 425. 
Paton, 216, 243, 246. 
Patterson, 322. 
Pattie, 14a 
Paul, 323, 327. 
Pauling, 408. 
Pearce, '191. 
Peck, 64. 
Peden, 149. 
Penny, 139. 
Perochon, 85. 
Perry, 78, 425. 
Peyster, Colonel de, 161. 
Pleydell, 282. 
Porteous, 56, 76, 130, 281. 
Potter, 280. 
Pracki, 138. 
Preston, 413. 
Primrose, 42, 388. 
Pringle, 285, 416. 



Quaile, 285. 



a 



K 



Eae, 61, 139, 179, 183, 228, 

302, 405. 
Baleigh, 408. 
Bamsay, 33, 61, 79, 208, 323, 

334. 
Eamsey, 389. 
Bankine, 113. 



440 



OENBRAL INDEX. 



Baphels, 415. 

Reid, 36, 79, 94, 179, 204, 

256, 257, 300, 355, 405. 
Benwick, 280. 
Beoch, 193. 
Reynolds, 241. 
Eichardson, 48, 50, 121, 128, 

139, 169, 184, 282, 283, 302, 

313, 325, 327. 334,411, 425. 
Rickarby, 241. 
RiddeU, 74, 285. 
Riddick, 64, 143, 223, 243. 
Ridley, 165. 
Ritchie, 80, 306. 
Roan, 210, 306. 
Robartii, 398. 
Robb, 179, 300. 
Roberts, 416. 
Robertson, 62, 178, 218, 260, 

280, 313. 
Robinson, 61, 100, 412. 
Robison, 39, 326. 
Roddan, 204, 285. 
Roddick, 325. 
Rodick, 57. 
Rogerson, 261. 
Rome, 225, 308. 
Ronald, 50. 
Ronaldson, 32. 
Ross, 21, 93, 218, 425. 
Rowlandson, 218. 
Roxburgh, 60, 184. 
Rule, 334. 

Russell, 142, 257, 318. 
Rutherford, 385. 

S 

Samson, 201, 338. 
Sandilands, 96, 228. 
Savage, 261. 
Scot, 70, 190, 356. 
Scott, 143, 194, 195, 218, 280, 
301, 306, 364, 387, 406, 422. 
Selkirk, 140, 285. 
Sellars, 57. 
Shade. 411. 



Shanks, 183, 327. 

Shannon, 406. 

Sharpe, 23, 79 425. 

Shaw, 186, 258, 333, 408. 

Shortridge, 100. 

Shortt, 89. 

Simpson, 227, 324. 

Sinclair, 229, 340. 

Slater, 413. 

Sloan, 197, 244, 406. 

Smart, 244. 

Smith, 60, 61, 121, 129, 140, 
141, 192, 217,235, 247, 258, 
285, 292, 301, 303, 304, 332, 
401, 405, 407,409, 411, 416. 

Smithson, 140. 

Smyth, 267. 

Somerville, 218. 

Spalding, 133. 

Spence, 176, 287. 

Staig, 91. 

Stanley, 406. 

Stearop, 63. 

Stevenson, 140, 415. 

Stewart, 26, 97, 175, 366, 401, 
415, 

Storey, 260. 

Stothert, 68. 

Stott, 116, 186. 

Stuart, 59. 

Sturgeon, 176, 218, 317, 326, 
415. 

Sutcliffe, 261. 

Sutherland, 280. 

Swan, 334. 

Sweetman, 157. 

Symons, 402. 

T 

Tait, 304, 325, 327, 416. 
Taylor, 132, 323. 
Telfair, 43. 
Templeton, 414. 
Tennant, 248. 
Thomas, 421. 

Thompson, 279, 280, 326, 
406. 



GENERAL (KDRX. 



441 



Thomson, 17, 37, 62,93,111, 
125, 187, 198, 217, 227, 235, 
252, 254, 257, 286, 299, 302, 
303, 305, 387, 401, 414, 423. 

Thorbum, 77, 87, 99, 126, 214, 
307. 

Threshie, 39, 193, 312. 

Thurrot, 405. 

Tinning, 327, 332. 

Todd, 256, 332. 

Townsend, 413. 

Trainer, 408. 

Trotter, 356, 380. 

Tulloch, 296. 

Turner, 243, 259, 327, 399, 
401, 407. 

Tusting, 308. 

Twaddell, 25. 

U 

Underwood, 130, 300. 



Veitch, 358. 
Vickers, 416. 

W 

Waddell, 233. 
Wadeson, 261. 
Wainwright, 408. 
Walker, 67, 96, 112, 159, 171, 

208, 323, 331, 406, 416. 
Wallace, 130, 134, 172, 187, 

193, 221, 327, 356, 398, 405. 
Wardrop,.146. 
Watson, 55, 183, 185, 232, 263, 

425. 
Watt, 197, 211, 333. 



Waugh, 143. 

Webster, 412. 

Weems, 209. 

Weir, 61, 146, 176, 211. 

Wells, 177, 373. 

Welsh, 93, 148, 209, 218, 318, 

343, 347. 
Welton, 63. 
Wemyss, 46. 
Wharton, 176. 
White, 265. 
Wield, 415. 
Wight, 363. 

Wightman, 53, '204, 205, 340. 
Wilkin, 410. 
Wilkinson, 284. 
Williams, 268. 
WilHamson, 135, 144, 185, 

221, 323, 416. 
Wilson, 60, 89, 140, 172, 177, 

217,256, 261, 284, 286,289, 

299, 300, 315, 318, 324, 332, 

389,410,416. 
Winlaw, 43, 234. 
Winzer, 313. 
Wood, 38, 60, 257. 
Woodhouse, 176. 
Woodmass, 57. 
Wootton, 395. 
Wright, 47, 48, 68, 79, 99, 

161, 178, 300, 332, 396, 411. 
WyKe, 281. 
Wyper, 141. 



Yorstoun, 373. 

Young, 126, 182, 203, 247, 
287, 288, 289, 308. 



SPECIAL INDEX. 



Academy, Dumfries — Its Founder, Bailie Paterson, 5; 
Teachers : Mercer, 73 ; White, 265 ; Kennedy, 265. 

Bums, Eobert— Keferences to, 9, 17, 49, 55, 59, 70, 75, 80, 81, 
82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 99, 124, 129, 156, 161, 169, 191, 192, 
214, 242, 245, 251, 272, 276, 292, 319, 321, 322, 328, 351, 
368. 

Oastledykes — Its Erection and Proprietors, 116, 117. 

Charles, Prince— His Visit to the Burgh, 17, 19, 50, 207, 222, 
271. 

Centenarians— 77, 269, 304, 334. 

Carruthers' Missionary Bequest — 97. 

Crichton Royal Institution — Its Founders, 66, 118. 

Cholera Epidemic of 1832, 135 ; the Mound where its Victims 
lie Interred, 135 ; First Death from Cholera, 136 ; number 
who perished, 136 ; the Epitaph, 137 ; Cholera of 1848, 137. 

Conveners of the Seven Trades — Primrose (James), 42 ; Prim- 
rose (Samuel), 42 ; Winlaw, 43, 234 ; M'Naught, 43 
Lookup, 57 ; Muncie, 61 ; Grainger, 95 ; Anderson, 118 
Howat, 122 ; Thomson (James), 251 ; Milligan, 164 ; Nibloe 
201; Hayland, 211; M'George, 212; M'Kinnell, 212 
M'Ghie, 223; Maxwell, 225; Thomson (Robert) 252 
Crosbie, 254 ; Harley, 262 ; Blackstock, 314 ; Irving, 424. 

Hannahfield — Its Original Proprietors, 38 ; Grant of Part of 
it to the Burgh, 38. 

Haggart, David — His Crime, Pursuit, and Apprehension, 48. 

Latin Inscriptions with Translations, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 
20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 30, 41, 248, 249, 372. 

Longevity, Numerous Instances of, in one Section of the 
Cemetery — 142. 



444 SPECIAL INDEX. 

Military Comer, 63 ; Singular Tale connected with one of its 

Monuments — 64. 
Moorheads' Hospital for Decayed Burgesses — 220, 355. 

Ministers — Bumside, 67 ; Lawson, 97; Brown, 122; Wallace, 
134, 356 ; Dunlop, 154 ; Kirkpatrick, 179; Dunn, 189 ; Scot, 
190, 366 ; Fyfe, 193 ; Wightman, 205 ; Sandilands, 228 ; 
Babingtou (William), 231 ; Babington (Charles Maitland), 
231 ; Duncan, 238; M'Murdo, 242; Inglis, 319; Cowans, 
326 ; Veitch, 357 ; Linn, 362 ; Wight, 363 ; Mutter, 363 ; 
Scott, 364 ; Ewart (buried in Troqueer Churchyard), 375 ; 
Machray, 381 ; Fraser, 398 ; Gillespie, 400 ; Thomas, 421. 

Ministers of St Michaers Church from 1567 till 1876—352. 

Merchants, Ancient— 15, 30, 35, 36, 37, 68, 72, 239, 240, 241, 
249, 257, 260, 284, 291, 305, 310, 311, 339. 

Medical Practitioners — Gilchrist (Eben), 15 ; Gilchrist (John), 
16 ; Gibson, 24 ; Gordon, 41 ; Sir Andrew Halliday, 65 ; 
Hill, 72; Spalding, 133; M'Minn, 156; Threshie, 193; 
Fergusson, 219 ; M'Ghie, 222 ; Blacklock (Archibald), 
244 ; Blacklock (Ambrose), 245 ; Mitchell, 249 ; Smyth, 
267 ; Maxwell 277 ; Johnstone (Alexander), 289 ; John- 
stone (Joseph), 303 ; Sinclair, 340 ; M'Lauchlan, 357. 

Mausoleum, Burns's — 101 ; Movement for its Erection, 102 ; 
Description of, 103 ; Exhumation and Eeinterment of the 
Body, 104 ; Cast taken of the Cranium, 105 ; Burial of Mrs. 
Bums, 106 ; the Memorial Tablets of the Mausoleum, 107, 
108 ; its Natural Garniture, 109 ; Louis Kossuth at the 
Grave of Bums, 109 ; Jessie Lewars Buried near the 
Grave, 111. 

Monuments, the oldest — Corsanes; 6 ; Edgar of Elshieshiels 
10 ; Irvings, 11 ; Maxwells of Terraughtie, 13 ; Gilchrists_ 
15 ; Crosbies, 15 : Bells of Conheath, 18 ; Dicksons, 19 
Lowthians, 19 ; Gordons, 21 ; Sharpes of Hoddam, 22 
Craiks of Arbigland and Duchra, 26 ; Corbets, 29, 65 
Edgar of Reidbank, 30 ; Hepbums, 30 ; Coplands of 
CoUiston, 31 ; Provost Johnston of Kelton, 32 ; Provost 
Bishop, 33 ; John Mitchelson, merchant, 34 ; Thomas 
Hynd, merchant, 36 ; Bailie John Martin, 36 ; Baihe Wil- 



SPECIAL INDEX. 445 

liam Clark, 36 ; Jaxdines, 37 ; Dr. John Gordon, 41 
WiUiani Murhead, 45; William Laury of Barnsoul, 60 
Provost Corbet, 66 ; William Stothart, merchant, 68 
Maxwells of Cargen, 71 ; John Maxwell, merchant, 72 
Riddells of Glenriddell, 74 ; Deacon Harley, 75 ; Thomas 
Mouat, wig-maker, 204 ; Robert Adamson, saddler, 204 ; 
Matthew Wightman, merchant, 204 ; Rev. David Wight- 
man, 205 ; Deacon Robert Newall, 206 ; Archibald Mal- 
colm, Town-Clerk, 206 ; John Grierson, dyer, 216 
Provost Rome of Cludan, 225 ; Herries M'Whan, 227 
Rev. John Sandilands, 228; Deacon Waddell, 233 
M'Murdos 239, 240, 241; Dr. Robert Mitchell, 249 
John, father of Dr. Thomas Blacklock, the Blind Poet, with 
Inscription written by the Poet, 249 ; Convener Thomson, 
who presided at the Shooting for the Silver Gun, 1777, 
which Contest is the subject of John Mayne's Poem, 252 ; 
WiUiam Robertson, merchant, 260 ; Joseph Miller, mer- 
chant, 260 ; Maxwells of Munches and Terraughtie, 277 ; 
Provost Irving of Logan, 278 ; Helena Maxwell, 282 ; 
Treasurer Mundell, 283 ; Bailie Fingass, tombstone, with, 
French inscription, unfolding a Romantic Tale of Love, 
290 ; Mrs. Jean Martin, 303 ; John Thomson, merchant, 
305 ; Corries, 310 ; Provost Corrie of Speddoch, 311 ; 
Robert Bailie, merchant, 312 ; Bailie Bell, 312 ; Robert 
Hunter, burgess, 317 ; James Sturgeon, innkeeper, 317 ; 
John Aitkin, writer, 341 ; Rodger Aitken, 342 ; The 
Martyrs' Stones, 342; Rev. William Veitch, who, after 
suflfering many troubles during the Persecution, became 
Minister of Dumfries, 357 ; Rev. Patrick Linn, 362 ; Rev. 
Robert Wight, 363 ; Rev. Dr. Mutter, 363 ; Rev. John 
Scott, 364 ; George Mackenzie of Nether wood, 366 ; Phila- 
delphia Douglas or M'Murdo, 368 ; Mrs. Archibald, 370 ; 
Elizabeth Key or Archibald, 371 ; Dr. Archibald, 372 ; 
Ewarts of Muloch, 372 ; William Irving, 424 ; John Allan, 
424. 

Persecution — References to — 31, 33, 151, 342. 

Pentland Rising and Battle of Rullion Green, in connection 
with the Martyrs' Stones — 344 ; and the Veitch Tablet, 358. 



446 SPECIAL INDEX. 

Paul Jones — Befereuces to, 221, 323. 

Porch of Church — Monuments in, 355. 

Poet^s Comer— where Barns was first Interred — 79 ; his 
Burial, 84. 

Poor— List of Legacies and Donations to, 354. 

Pyet and Crow Municipal Contest— 30, 35, 65, 71, 269. 

Provosts of Dumfries — Corsane, 9 ; Irving (Francis), 12 ; 
Crosbie, 16 ; Thomson, 17 ; Bell (Greorge), 18 ; Dickson, 
19 ; Craik, 26 ; Hepburn, 30 ; Copland, 31 ; Johnston, 
32 ; Bishop, 33 ; Gass, 62 ; Corbet, chief of the Corbies in 
the great Municipal Strife of 1759, 66 ; Maxwell, 72 ; 
Staig, 90 ; Barker, 114 ; Armstrong, 115 ; Murray, 123 ; 
M*Gowan, 150 ; Harkness (buried in St Mary's Church- 
yard), 153 ; Kerr, 157 ; Fraser, 158 ; Leighton, 165 
Richardson, 169 ; Corson, 181 ; M'Kie, 198 ; Rome, 225 
Kemp, 273 ; Irving (John) of Logan, 278 ; Corrie, 311 
Kennedy, 417. 

Provost of Maxwelltown — Shortridge, 100. 

St. Michael's Church, 351 ; its Age and Interior, 351 ; 
quaint Trades' Inscription, 353. 

St. Michael's Churchyard — Its Antiquity, 1 ; Number of its 
Dead, 2 ; Extent, 2 ; Greneral Aspect of the Ground, 3 ; 
Regulations for its Management, 432; Purchase of the 
New Ground, 378. 

Silver Gun Contest— 122, 207, 223, 225, 235, 252, 254, 255, 
274, 314. 

Southern Walk, with its Upper-Class Memorials — 112. 

South-west Comer, with magnificent Monument to Hoddam 
Family— 21. 

Trades, Seven— References to, 42, 61, 95, 118, 122, 125, 200, 
201, 207, 208, 232, 252, 334, 353. 

Tavern-keepers, Ancient — 235, 236, 324. 

Wedded Life— Wonderful Tale of, 43. 

Woollen Manufacture — Originators of the Tweed Trade, 194 



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